Forbidden
by satellite heart1707
Summary: Bella Swan faces the pain of being in the holocaust. The pain of her mother losing hope in her, and Alice getting sicker. Also, she faces the friendship of soldier Edward, who is different than the other soldiers.Summarys not good, but please give a try!
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I DO NOT own any of Stephenie Meyer's characters, ideas, etc. Those belong solely to her. Otherwise, enjoy the story __J__ please review!_

**~Bella **

"**Presents! Presents!" Jonah screeched as my mother lit the last candle of the menorah. My mother, father, Jonah, and I sat around the dining room table, looking at the nine candles of my grandmother's old menorah that we got when she passed away last year. My five year old brother, Jonah, just looked forward to the present on each night. **

"**Just wait a minute, Jonah." My mom said. "You can have your present after the prayer."**

**My dad led the prayer, and the rest of us followed along, looking down, hands folded. Jonah's little voice muttered the prayer, but he kept pausing because he forgot the words. **

**The prayer ended, and then Jonah jumped up in excitement. "Presents?" he asked eagerly.**

**My mom chuckled. "Okay, Jonah. You can have your present now. You, too, Bella."**

"**All right." I said, turning as my mom walked away to get our gifts. She brought back two boxes and handed one to each of us.**

"**We hope you like it." My dad said to both of us as we tore open the paper. **

"**Look! Look!" Jonah exclaimed, showing me a figure that looked like a soldier. He waved it around in there air happily.**

**I looked at my gift-it was a bracelet. A gold-colored bracelet, with little sparkly jewels on it. They weren't real, of course. I hadn't seen a real jewel or real gold since a few years ago. Now that it was 1942, with Hitler coming to power, things were changing. We weren't allowed in some stores, actually almost all the stores, and we couldn't be outside by a certain time each day. I went to an all-Jewish school now. I couldn't go to my old school, with my old friends or anyone. I now had new friends. **

**The bracelet was very nice, and it looked real. I put it on my left wrist and looked at my parents. "Thank you." I said to them. "It's nice."**

"**You're welcome, Bella." My mom said. "It was my grandmother's, then she gave it to my mother, and then to me. And now I'm giving it to you."**

"**Thanks."**

**We spent the rest of the night together as a family, talking about our day at school. Today I had gotten in trouble by the teacher in class, because I was talking to Alice, my best friend at school. The teacher gave a harsh look to me and made me move my seat. I told my parents, and they were somewhat disappointed, but forgave me right away. That's how my parents were, they always forgave me…usually.**

**I went to sleep early that day, tired from the Hanukkah celebration.**

*********

**I left to walk to school the next morning, but was interrupted. A German soldier walking around here walked over to me as I walked down the street. He looked down at me, as if he were going to step on me.**

"**Good morning." I gulped.**

"**Hmm." Was all he said. He glared at me once again, and spat right in front of me on the sidewalk. Then, he walked away.**

**I looked down at the sidewalk and stepped over what the rude soldier spat. I looked back at him, and he muttered something in German.**

**The number of soldiers here seemed to multiply each day, and they all just walked around, every once in awhile talking to someone walking along. I didn't like when they talked to me; I knew they knew I was Jewish, so I was scared that they would kidnap me or something. There were these places called concentration camps that my parents were talking about-I listened in on their conversation one time- and they said that Jews were taken there to be worked to death. Why would Hitler do all this? I would wonder all the time. What did he want from us? Why would he want to kill us?**

**I got to the school, and everyone was talking outside. As a fifteen year old, there was no more playing on the playground before school like we used to do. I walked over to my friends, who had been there for awhile now. Alice was the first to greet me. **

"**Hi, Bella." She said, smiling. **

"**Hey, Alice." I replied. **

"**What did you get for Hanukkah?" she asked.**

**I held out my wrist, where my bracelet sat. She looked at it in awe.**

"**That's so nice!" she exclaimed. "I got a journal and a pen."**

"**Nice." I said. "I haven't gotten stationary as a gift in awhile now."**

"**Yeah, my dad said he searched for a really long time to find it."**

"**That was nice of him."**

"**Where did your parents get your bracelet?"**

"**It was my great-grandmother's, passed on to me after all the years."**

"**Oh, that's great." She said. "Rosalie, look at Bella's new bracelet!"**

**Another friend of mine, Rosalie, turned and looked at my Hanukkah gift. Her eyes beamed.**

"**Wow, that's really pretty."**

"**Thanks."**

**The bell rang, and everyone crashed into each other as everyone tried to go through the main doors. There were people talking and yelling as I walked through the small school.**

**I got to my first class of 35 students, where we were packed together in one average classroom. We took our seats-some people sitting on the floor-and the teacher immediately began the lesson.**

**The phone in the room rang, causing my teacher to jump from being startled. She walked with high heels to the phone and picked it up.**

"**I have to go, class, but I'll be back in a few moments. Please read for a little." She left the room.**

_**She never came back.**_

**We spent the day alone in the classroom.**

"**Where did she go?" Rosalie asked, her and Alice sitting next to me once everyone realized the teacher wouldn't be back for awhile.**

**I shook my head. "I don't know."**

"**Maybe the principal needed to yell at her." Alice suggested. She had never liked the teacher much.**

"**I don't think so." Rosalie said. **

"**You know those soldiers?" I asked suddenly. I hadn't been paying attention to their conversation; I was thinking about that soldier who saw me walking to school.**

"**Yeah?" They both answered.**

"**I was walking to school, and one walked up to me. He spat right in front of me! And then walked away!"**

"**Did you say anything?" Alice asked.**

"**No! I'd never talk back to one of them! Do you know how mean they are?"**

"**I know, I know. I just wish they would leave. What is their motive, anyway? Well, I know what it is in the long run, to rule the world, but why be so mean to everyone?"**

**I just shrugged, since I didn't want to speak of the topic anymore. It overwhelmed me sometimes, often so much that I'd go to sleep crying, and wake up with streaks of tears down my cheeks. **

**My mom would try to tell me what was happening and that everything would be okay, but for some reason I could not believe her. I had a feeling that something was going to happen…when? I didn't know. I just knew it was soon. And not knowing made it all the more worse, since whenever you least expected it, you could be somewhere completely new, for whatever reason.**

**Alice and I walked out of the school together, talking about our Hanukkah and all of the things we talked about with our families. We laughed about silly things that Jonah said and did, especially after finally being able to open his present.**

"**Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Bella." Alice said, about to walk the other way home from school. **

"**See you!" I said, walking away. I continued down the road, on the way home.**

_**Who would have known everything could change in one day?**_

**My mom was home, as usual, when I got home, and I set my book bag down on the floor and went into the kitchen, where her and Jonah ate a snack. Jonah was excited to see me, to tell me what he learned today at school.**

"**How was school?" my mom asked, laughing as Jonah said ridiculous things.**

"**Fine, I guess. My teacher got called down to the office." I said, taking a cracker that was on the table. "She never came back. We spent the entire day alone in the classroom."**

**My mom's face lost its smile, and her face went pallid. She looked up at me with her dull grey eyes.**

"**What?" she asked, not looking for an answer, I knew. She was shocked at something-maybe my teacher not coming back?**

"**It wasn't a big deal. We just sat there and talked; we didn't do anything wrong."**

**She stayed silent.**

"**Mom?"**

**She stood from her chair, the wood floor underneath making a screeching noise. "You watch Jonah, okay?" she rushed into the living room.**

"**Okay." I said, looking down at Jonah. He looked up at me, giggling. **

"**Bell, can I read you a story from my new book?"**

"**A new book? No way!" I always talked with this excitement so he could be happy. But, deep in my heart, I knew something was terribly wrong, so that made me unable to be really excited. Jonah dragged me off to his room and took out a small book from his book bag and he began reading about some animals on a farm or something. I was just focused on listening to my mom, who was now on the phone with someone and talking in a low voice. I heard the words, "gone", "never", "there", and "camp." However, I couldn't hear what else she was saying, and I couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, of course.**

**I was surprised that Jonah's class had been given new books. In our schools, we weren't provided with that much, compared to the other schools. Well, I guess this all went back to Hitler. But, I still couldn't get why he'd deprive kids even as young as Jonah from learning in school. Actually, I kind of knew why-he was such a horrible man. **

**I've despised him ever since he came to power and declared his hatred toward Jews, but I was especially hurt by him when my grandmother was taken away by him and his soldiers. She had been walking down the street, toward my house, and then a soldier knew she was Jewish so he just grabbed her like that and took her to a train. She is in a concentration camp right now-well, I'm not exactly sure if she's still alive. She was older, so I fret that they killed her when she got there. My poor, poor grandma, and my poor, poor grandfather, who lost the love of his life and is now hiding somewhere from the Nazis-somewhere **_**we,**_** his own family, don't even know where it was.**

**She was my mother's mother, who must have had this bracelet I was wearing, as I thought of her in the concentration camp at that very moment. I looked down at the gold chain, and then saw a small star carved into the bracelet: The Star of David, a symbol of the Jewish people. In fact, there were stars on all of our clothing, including my shirt for school, which also had the school's name on it. In the middle of that logo was the bright yellow star, which showed everyone that I was Jewish, and I knew it also meant I could be taken away any day now.**

**Even Jonah, as he read to me happily, was vulnerable to the Nazis taking him away. I didn't want to imagine it, him being carried away to a concentration camp, screaming our names. I shook my head and listened to Jonah's story.**

"**Kids, dinner!" My mom called from the kitchen. Jonah ran out of the room, and I followed behind and sat at the counter of the tiny kitchen.**

**Our house was not at all a large house, far from it. It had one floor, and was four main rooms: a living room, a kitchen, Jonah's room, and my room. My parents slept in the living room on a cot every day. None of these rooms were big, just smaller than average rooms. The biggest room was the living room. The bathroom was a small closet-like room next to the living room.**

**We once lived in a big house, with a big yard and porch and a second floor and all those things that were wanted in a house. Back when I was about 13. Then, Hitler came along and decided where we should live. So now, we live under watch by the Nazis-at least, I think they're watching us.**

**Dinner was as usual-bread with a little bit of jelly on it and a small glass of water. I saw our resources get smaller every day, and soon we'd be out of food. Then, my dad would have to either send a friend who was not Jewish out to shop for us, or go alone in disguise. The problem for the first plan was, he had no friends that were not Jewish. **

_**Where is Dad, anyway? **_**I thought. I asked my mom as soon as I didn't know where he was. **

"**He's getting something from his office." My mom said.**

**It was getting dark out, soon to be the curfew. "But it's almost dark outside! What if they see him?"**

"**Don't worry, Bella." She said, taking a bite of bread. "Your father knows that soldiers are around. He'll be fine."**

**I sighed. "All right."**

**Jonah talked and talked about his day to my mom. My mom was very brave-she was able to smile at her son to make him feel safe, even when she knew something was wrong or something bad was happening. **

**I wanted to know what it was that was bothering her. Who was on the phone with her? The only person she talked to on the phone was either Alice's mom or my dad, when he used to go to work everyday. Now, he went a few times a week. Why would she need to call either of them today?**

**There were tears in my mom's eyes as she looked at me. She was trying to tell me something through her eyes, but I couldn't understand…what happened?**

*******

**I opened my eyes and saw the bracelet on the ground in front of me. I picked it up, put it on my wrist, and stood, looking around. I was in an old looking place, it was dirty, with broken-down buildings around me. I was in the center of some town, it appeared. **

**A figure emerged from the shadows, one that was familiar to me. She led a group of people toward me.**

"**Grandma?" I asked when she and her group were in front of me. They all looked at me in wretchedness and weariness.**

**She nodded solemnly. "Bella." She said, her voice not one I had heard in awhile.**

"**What is this place? Where are we?"**

**She looked around for a minute, and then gave me a look so serious that her pale face looked like that of a ghost. **

"**Auschwitz." She hissed. She and the rest of the Jewish people around her disappeared into the air, leaving me in the center of the concentration camp most meant to kill.**

*******

**I sat up, now realizing I had just been dreaming. My dad suddenly came into the room.**

"**You just screamed." He said. "We're not supposed to be speaking loudly, Bella, you know that the soldiers get mad." His expression on his face softened. "What's wrong?" he asked as he sat next to me.**

"**It was just a bad dream." I said. **

"**You want to tell me about it?"**

**I sighed. "Grandma was there. I was in some old place, I had no idea where. Then, she and other Jewish people came to me. She said we were in Auschwitz…she disappeared…"**

**My dad gave me a hug. "Listen, Bella," he said, "we're going to make it through the war, okay? As long as we stay a family and try to think of the bright side of things, we can be okay. So try not to worry about this-this is grownup stuff. So just be concerned about being a kid. Have some fun! Go out with friends!"**

"**Dad, it doesn't work like that."**

**He laughed without humor. "I know, I know, I guess I don't realize yet that you're not as gullible as you used to be when you were five."**

**I smiled a bit. "I'm not."**

"**All right, then. Just try not to worry too much. Those Nazis, they just want you to be scared of them. It makes them feel good about themselves."**

"**They can do horrible things. And you know that."**

**He thought for a minute. "Please just get some sleep. You have school tomorrow." He said. He kissed my forehead. "Goodnight, Bella."**

"**Goodnight, Dad."**

**He shut the door of my room, and then I lay back down. I thought about school, my friends, how I could try to look on the bright side of things…but, with this war going on, what could the bright side of it be?**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: First…I don't own any Twilight characters, etc. They belong to Stephenie Meyer.**_

_**Anyway, so when u see "~Alice", it switches to Alice's point of view. The same thing for when it switches back to Bella's point of view. I wanted to give Alice's point of view to show everyone what was going on where she was.**_

_**Enjoy the story.**_

I came into the kitchen to see if we were eating breakfast today-some days my mom would spare the food and tell us not to eat breakfast-and my mom sat at the counter with her head down, crying. I sat next to her, concerned. This was probably about the phone call she made.

"Mom?" I asked, tapping her shoulder. "Mom, what's wrong?"

She looked up at me, her face red and tear-streaked. She sniffled a lot and sat up a little.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Bella." She cried, hugging me. She cried into my shoulder, sobbed. I didn't know what to say to her.

"I don't know how to say this." She cried, sitting up.

"What is it, Mom?"

She started crying again.

"It's okay."

"It's not okay." She objected in between cries.

"Please tell me what's wrong."

"Okay." She gulped, sniffled again, and then finally said it. "Bella, yesterday after school…well…" She paused to sniffle again. "Alice…she never came home from school."

It hit me. I stared at my mom in disbelief, shock ran through my mind and heart, and I knew what she was going to say next. "No." I said.

She nodded, biting her lip so she wouldn't start crying again. "The poor girl…I'm so sorry, Bella! I cannot believe it has happened so suddenly. We're not sure why they decided to take her…they just did."

There were tears in my eyes now, on the verge of pouring onto my cheeks. "No." I said again.

And then the tears came out, and I was sobbing, screaming. Alice, my best friend in the entire world since I came to this school, besides Rosalie, was just taken away on her way home from school. Why would they take this innocent person? She was so kind and caring and she didn't do anything wrong to get Hitler angry with her…besides being Jewish. But who cares?! Why did her religion get her taken away?! I needed to see her, to tell her I was sorry for the war, even though I had no control over the war. I was never going to see her again, I couldn't say goodbye, she couldn't have a chance to be a kid. I felt so sorry for her…I couldn't even imagine being taken away while I was on the street-or being taken away at all, for that matter.

"Bella, I am so sorry." My mom said, wiping the tears from my face. "I know she's your best friend. I know this is difficult for you, it's horrible for everyone. Don't feel like it's your fault, for any reason, because it isn't."

"Is that who you were talking on the phone to? Her mom?"

"Yes. She called as soon as she got worried about her not coming home from school. She said that…they found her book bag on the street when her husband went searching for her."

Tears brimmed in my eyes again, one dripping down my cheek and hitting the floor loudly, it seemed like that was the only noise I heard. Just the small tear hitting the ground, crashing into my ears.

"You don't have to go to school…if you don't want to."

"I will." I said quietly. "I need to talk to Rosalie. I need to talk to my friends."

My mom nodded. "I understand. I'll walk you to school. And I'll pick you up after school."

"Okay." I wiped my eyes and left the kitchen to go get ready for a long day of school.

~Alice

The Nazis called to each other in German, signaling that it was time for departure. I sat in the dirty, cold, dark, crowded train, looking down at the floor, tears in my eyes as the train began moving. I had been taken away so fast, I was not expecting it, otherwise I would've put up a fight. I had just waved goodbye to Bella when I turned again and the soldier stood in front of me, looking down at me. Now, I was not so tough, being a fifteen year old girl, but if I had been ready, I would've punched him and ran away.

He said something in German to me and then picked me up easily, since I did not weigh much, anyway. After years of not being allowed to eat a lot, that happens to anyone.

I tried to yell for help, but then he covered my mouth. I always had thought that when Nazis took people away, they gave them a minute to pack. That's what my mom told me, anyway. I guess that was not the case all the time.

There were only a few children-most about my age, on little girl younger than I. She looked to be four years old. She was crying in her mother's lap, and her mother looked at me sorrowfully.

"Do you know which camp we are going to?" her mother asked me, concerned.

I shrugged. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

"We're going to Auschwitz." An old man with a raspy voice who sat next to the woman said. He had a long beard and his eyes were tired-looking.

"Auschwitz?!" the woman gasped. "No, no, no."

"It is true."

"And you would know, how?"

"Heard the Nazis talking about it."

"You speak German?"

"Yes. Understand it even better."

"Why are we going there?" I asked. "We haven't done anything to be sent _there._ I thought Auschwitz was for the real rule-breakers."

"Ah, but, yet again, they don't care much, do they? They just have room there, so they are sending us. You seem to be young enough to work. How old are you?"

"15."

"The perfect age to work for them. They'll keep you."

"What about you?"

"Me? Oh, I don't think they'll put me to work. I think they plan to get rid of me right away."

"That's horrible!"

"Yes, it is. I'm trying not to think about it."

"What about Sophie, my daughter?" the woman asked, looking down at the little girl with brown, curly hair and big brown eyes. She looked at me, and then at her mother.

The man with the raspy voice cleared his throat. "Well…uh…I don't know how to say this, ma'am. She's too young to work."

"What?! They can't hurt her!" She held Sophie closer to her in a protectively, motherly way. "I won't let them!"

"You can try. They'll just get rid of you, too."

"I'm not going to let her die and me survive."

"What's your name, kid?" the man suddenly asked me, changing the conversation.

"Alice." I answered.

"How about you, Ma'am?" he asked Sophie's mom.

"Annabelle."

"Well, it's nice to meet both of you."

"And what's your name?" Annabelle asked him.

"That you may not know." The man-now a man I found creepy-smiled and laughed, showing yellowed teeth.

Annabelle looked at me, and I knew what she was saying: "_What is wrong with this man?"_

Now, I waited. I sat on the cold bench, waiting to get to Auschwitz, and for what was to happen, happen. I didn't know what was next, and all there was to do was wait.

~Bella

"And that is why, class, that this country is called Germany." The replacement teacher concluded the lesson that I had not paid attention to. I was thinking about where Alice was as I looked at her empty desk. The teacher looked at the seat, too, when she noticed I was looking at it.

"Class, one more thing." She said, standing. "I know you all know about the disappearance of Alice…I was told she was a great student here." She wiped her eye. "She will be missed greatly. That is why I'd like us all to be silent for a moment to honor her, wherever she may be right now."

I looked down, fighting back the tears.

_Alice, if there is any way you can hear me, know this: we'll see each other again. You're my best friend, and I'm not going to give up on talking to you once more. I miss having you as a friend already._

"I'm sure some of you are wondering about your teacher." She added. Everyone nodded. I, too, wanted to know what had happened. "Well…the same thing that happened to Alice happened to her."

Rosalie and I waited outside the school once the final bell sounded. All of the parents were walking their kids home from school, after what had happened.

"When did your mom tell you?" Rosalie asked, a sorrow tone to her voice.

"This morning." I replied.

"Oh. My mom told me yesterday."

"Where do you think she is?"

"I don't know…I don't want to think of where she _could _be."

"I know what you mean. I can't believe the same thing happened to our teacher, too. It's terrible."

My mom walked over to us, saying a quick hello to Rosalie, and then telling me we had to go. The days were shorter now that it was winter, so it would be dark soon. I said goodbye to Rosalie and then walked down the street with my mom.

She talked lightheartedly, like nothing was wrong. She was trying to make me forget about the morning's events of Alice being taken away.

"Mom, my teacher was taken by the Nazis yesterday." I suddenly told her, interrupting her story about what Jonah did that was cute.

My mom went silent. "My God." She shook her head. "I am so sorry, Bella."

"Mom, can you just tell me everything that's going on? I'm old enough to know. I need to know."

"All right, when we get home I'll tell you."

My mom opened the front door, and we both went into the kitchen and sat at the counter. I waited as my mom collected her thoughts and then told me all about the war.

She told me about Hitler's reason for all this, about why Nazis were here in town, and where all the Jewish people who were taken away were going. I knew what concentration camps were, but she gave me some examples of camps. She said one of the most known and dangerous was Auschwitz. She said people were usually sent there to die. If you did something really bad, you were probably going to be sent there.

"And I know this is a bad time for you," my mom said, shaking her head, "and you're too young to be going through this."

"You shouldn't have to either, Mom. None of us should." I said.

"I know." She said quietly.

My dad walked into the room then, looking at both of us. He looked at me with eyes full of concern, since he knew that I knew about what happened to Alice.

"Are you okay, Bella?" he asked me.

"I'm not sure yet." I answered.

"Well, all right. I just want you to know that we're here for you if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay."

"By the way," he said to my mom, "it's ready."

My mom nodded. "Okay. I'll look later, after dinner and after Jonah goes to sleep."

What were they talking about?

"Look at what?" I asked.

They both looked at each other, and then at me. "Nothing," my dad said. "Just some old papers…our wedding papers, actually."

"Oh. Then can I see, too?"

"Uh…I don't think so, Bella." My mom chimed in. "You're probably tired, so you'll be wanting to go to sleep after dinner. We're all tired."

"Too tired to look at paper?"

"That's enough." My dad said. I stood and then went to go to my room. I just lay in bed, silent.

"Bella, time for dinner." My mom said, knocking on the door of my room and then walking away into the kitchen. I stood and left my room, going into the small kitchen filled with smoke from my mom cooking in the old oven. She rarely baked the bread, but when she did it made the entire house smoky. I coughed for a minute and then sat down next to Jonah. He rambled about his normal day at school, and about his new book which he'd read ten times by then.

"Bell, when can Alice come over again?" he asked me.

I froze, and then looked at him with a serious expression. "Not for awhile, Jonah."

"Why?"

Five year olds always asking questions. It got annoying after awhile.

"It's a tough time for everyone, so they have to stay home." My mom said.

"Oh." He said, shaking the question off. He talked while chewing his piece of bread, letting crumbs fly across the counter, which was disgusting. My mom yelled at him, and he started crying. Deciding he was tired, my mom carried him off to bed without anymore dinner.

The dishes got cleared away, but I remained at the counter, drinking the last of my water. My parents muttered something to each other, but I couldn't hear what. They walked away, and the front door opened. It closed, but they didn't return.

I panicked, thinking the worst had just happened to them. I quickly stood and ran to the front door, looking outside for where they went. It was dark outside-past curfew. What were they doing outside at night? I slowly opened the front door, making the faintest sound, and then dashed out of the house, trying to find them.

I wouldn't dare call their names. I'd be heard by a soldier and definitely be taken away to be punished for being out here. Instead, I led myself through the darkness of the night to find my parents.

Behind the house, in the tiny "back yard", which was more like a piece of land, there was a bench. An ordinary bench, but there had never been one there before. My eyes were adjusted to the dark, so I walked over to the bench. I looked at it, and then sat. There was nothing unusual about it, until the ground beneath me moved somewhat. I quickly stood and knelt by the ground beneath the bench.

The bench covered a hole in the ground, right in front of it so it wouldn't fall. I'd just almost fallen. But where did it lead to? Did I dare jump? What if Nazis met there for meetings or something? What if Hitler was in my very own back yard?

I could hear voices. I strained my ears to listen.

"You have to always be quiet." A voice whispered. "Never sneeze, never cough. Never breathe too loudly."

I recognized the voice. It was the voice of my father.

I leaned over the edge and whispered, "Dad? Mom?"

A light shone on me from the right side. Alarmed, I looked to the right-and I looked straight into the eye of a Nazi.

My eyes widened. I was caught.

He said something to me in German. I decided that was the only chance to run. I stood and darted past him. He did not yell or anything, that would just make more Nazis chase after me.

I had to lead him somewhere else, and then run home. I ran down my street, turned the corner, and then cut through someone's "back yard". It was the home of another Jewish family, so they too only had a small back yard. The Nazi wasn't behind me anymore, but I kept running until I was home again, and I almost slammed the door shut behind me, but then I remembered I couldn't make noise.

My parents sat at the kitchen counter, and they both sighed in relief when they saw me. They ran over to me and hugged me.

"Bella, where were you?!" my mom asked.

"I-I…" I couldn't say anything; I was still frightened. "I need to sit down."

"All right, Bella." My mom said, her and my dad following me as I walked to my bedroom. I lay in bed, and my parents sat beside me, waiting for me to be able to speak.

"I saw you leave." I finally said. "I went to the back yard. I saw the bench, so I sat, in case maybe you'd come back there. Then I noticed the passageway underneath it. I heard you talking, so I called your names. And then…"

"What?" my mom asked.

"A light shone in my face. It was one of the soldiers."

My parents' faces both froze.

"He chased me down the street, and I cut through someone's back yard. He lost track of me, but he could still be looking."

My dad stood without saying anything and looked out the window, only opening the blinds a little bit. He closed the blinds and then sat back down.

"There's no one. We should be fine." He told us.

"You poor thing." My mom comforted me. "Is there anything I could do?"

"No, Mom, I'm okay. I'll just go to sleep now."

"All right, Bella. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

They stood to leave, but I stopped them at the door by asking, "Wait, who was under the ground, anyway?"

My mom thought for a minute and then sighed. "Bella, if we tell you, you have to swear to never tell a soul. Promise?"

"This is a huge secret, and it will probably kill us if someone finds out." My dad said. "Do you understand?"

I nodded.

"We know some Jewish people who were supposed to be taken to a concentration camp soon." He explained. "They knew because they found a list somehow. Anyway, we're hiding them there for a little, until they can find a way out of the country."

"Do I know these people?"

He was silent for a minute, and then said, "Yes. It's Alice's mother and father."

*****

The weekend was here, so I had no school. I woke up, remembering that Alice's parents were presently in hiding. If only Alice had not been taken away on her way home from school, she could've been with them now. I wanted to go talk to them, since whenever I used to go to Alice's house, I would speak with them. They were great friends with my parents, so they also talked.

I went into the kitchen, but my mom or dad weren't there. They were probably in Jonah's room. I slid out the front door and ran to the back yard before anyone could see me. I looked down the edge. "Hello?" I asked.

Silence.

"It's Bella." I said.

"Jump down, Bella." Alice's mom's voice said quietly. I stood and then jumped down and hit the ground below me. I looked around, and Alice's parents looked at me, sorrow in their eyes. Their hiding place was not big at all, just a circular room made of dirt from the ground. Their clothes were dirty and old-looking, and their hair was messed up. It made me so sad to see them in such horrid conditions.

Alice's mom, Eve, walked over to me and gave me a motherly hug. "It's nice to see you, Bella." She said. She walked back over to her husband, Gerald.

"Nice to see you, too." I said. "I'm sorry about Alice." I added quietly.

"We are sorry, also." Gerald said sadly.

"Bella, I feel so badly that we are here, and she has to be there. We should be the ones in a camp, not her. She's only fifteen."

"How long are you two planning on staying here?" I asked.

"As long as it takes for liberation, I suppose."

"That could be weeks. Months. Years!"

"I know, but we have to do what it takes."

"What camp was she sent to?" I asked after a moment.

"We aren't sure."

"I hope she's okay."

"I know you do, dear." Eve said. She sounded like my mother, the way she talked to me. I'd known her for a few years now, and she treated me like a child of her own.

"Yesterday…a soldier saw me. Here. I was looking down here, and then he caught me outside. He chased me down the block, but I finally made it home."

Their expressions turned to frowns of terror.

"I don't know if he saw your hiding place." I added. "I think he was just focused on me being outside after curfew."

"Oh, no. Oh, no." Eve said, pacing in circles and shaking her head. "They know we're here!"

"I think they'd be here already if they knew." I suggested.

"Maybe they're just trying to make us feel safe here. They know where we are! They're coming!"

"Stop yelling, Eve." Gerald said.

"I'm sorry." She looked at me again. "Bella, are you sure they didn't see?"

"Pretty sure."

She sighed. "Please just keep a watch out for them. Perhaps we'll be able to get out of the country soon, so we won't have to worry about this."

I nodded. "I should go before my parents wonder where I am."

"Okay, Bella."

I started walking toward the edge where I jumped down from above. There was a step that I could use to get back to the ground-level. Before I left, I asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Eve answered.

"Do you know when my family is supposed to be taken away?"

Eve paused and looked at me for a minute, probably deciding whether or not to tell me what she knew. "I'm sorry, we don't know. Honestly."

"Oh. All right. See you later. I'll come visit again sometime."

"Have a nice day, Bella."

I climbed up and then stood, brushing the dirt off my knees. I went back inside the house, where my mom sat at the kitchen counter, reading a newspaper that my dad had found.

"Where were you?" my mom asked me, looking up.

"I went to go see Alice's parents."

"You have to make sure no one sees you whenever you go there." She warned. "Did anyone see you?"

"No."

"Good." She began to walk away, since Jonah was crying for her.

"Wait. Mom?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you know when they plan on taking us?" I asked without hesitating. I needed to know when I was supposed to leave my home. Not that it would make a difference, but at least I wouldn't be too surprised.

"You shouldn't be worrying about us being taken away."

She was trying to make me think we'd be safe here during this war, but I knew the truth; one day soon, we would get an knock at the door, and the soldiers would be standing there, letting us know that we were leaving now.

"Mom, you know you're worried about the Nazis, too."

She sighed. "Okay, Bella, I just don't want you to be sad all the time like I am now. I'm so worried about you kids…I couldn't imagine you and Jonah being taken away with us."

"Mommy!" Jonah called.

My mom looked toward Jonah's room, then at me. "I have to go see what he wants." She said, walking away.

On the kitchen counter was a piece of blank paper. I took it along with the pen next to it and then went to my room. I began writing, since I had no one to talk to, no one who would listen at the time.

_Whoever finds this letter,_

_Where is the help? Where is the justice? I need your help. We all need it. My name is Bella Swan, and I need someone there to come here to help us all. I live in Germany, but that is only one little area dealing with the war. My best friend, Alice, was just sent to a concentration camp. She was walking home and they just took her. That is what it has come to now. _

_My family and I can't live in a house we want to live in now, and my little brother has no idea of the dangers that await. I wish I didn't even know the dangers that await. _

_I beg of you, the person who reads this, to get help from someone of your country. I don't know anything about your country, but I know that you are free at this point, and I wish I could be free. Freedom is what everyone else gets, so we should get it, too. _

_Sincerely, _

_Bella Swan_

I folded the letter so that it was small, and then on the front I wrote, People of America. I didn't know who exactly to write it to, and I didn't even know how I was going to send it. I wanted maybe the army in America to come help us, to bring the liberation.

I went into the kitchen, looking around for my mom. She was by the old oven, cleaning the remains of the other night's dinner from it.

"Mom?" I asked.

She stood up and looked at me. "Yes?" she asked, wiping her hands on a towel.

"Are you sending anything in the mail anytime soon?"

She looked at me questioningly. "Mail? I haven't sent mail in awhile. Is it even allowed?"

"Well…it ought to be. I mean, it's just mail."

"Why? Who did you write a letter to?"

"No one. I was just wondering. I can take the mail for you, if you want, to save you the trip."

"Oh. Well, okay. Once as I have something to send, I'll let you know."

"All right."

"Will you watch Jonah for me? I have to clean here."

"Sure." I went down the hall and into Jonah's room.

"Knock on the door!" scolded.

"Sorry," I said sarcastically. I closed the door behind me and sat on the floor in the middle of the room across from him. He was still reading that book.

"Still reading that book, huh?" I asked him.

He didn't look up. "Yes."

"What's it about?"

"I already read it to you. You should've paid attention."

"Oh."

He looked up at me angrily. "You tell me what it was about."

I laughed at how angry he was. "It was about the farm animals, right?"

"Yeah. Look, the pig!" he pointed on the page. He was suddenly not mad anymore. All little kids did that; they'd be so mad at you one minute, then love you again the next.

"Cool." I said. "What's your favorite farm animal?"

"A pig."

"Cool."

"Bella, why did the big men talk to Mommy and me yesterday after school?" he asked suddenly.

"What big men?"

"The ones on the street all the time."

"They're here to make sure that people don't break the rules." I answered after thinking about what to say. "What did they say to you and Mommy?"

"First he asked Mommy what was in her purse. Mommy said, 'just what little money I have left'. Then the one man took it and then looked through it. He kept the money."

I was furious. "And what did they say to you? Anything?"

"They asked me who I was. I told them my name was Jonah Swan. Then they asked me if I was Jewish. Mommy said no at first, but I knew that wasn't true, so I said yes."

I sighed, upset. "Jonah, why did you do that?"

"Because saying I wasn't Jewish would be a lie."

"You have to agree with Mommy, okay? What did they say then?"

"Uh…they looked at each other, laughed, then walked away with Mommy's purse."

"How could they?!"

"Mommy says they're the bosses of us and we have to listen to what they say."

I didn't say anything.

"Bell, why are they really here?"

"Just listen to what Mom tells you."

"But she's lying."

"How would you know?"

"I can tell when she lies. She looks at me all sad when she lies. What's the truth, Bella?"

I looked at him, deciding whether to tell him or not. I finally decided to say, "I can't tell you."

He pouted. "Why can't you tell me now?"

"I just can't." I left the room, not noticing I was supposed to be watching him. I went into the kitchen and stood at the doorway. My mom turned.

"They took your purse?" I asked suddenly.

My mom nodded. "Yes. How do you know?"

"Jonah just told me. Mom, are they even allowed to do that? That's stealing!"

"They can do whatever they want."

"Aren't you angry? At all?"

"I am, but I couldn't yell at them. It's too dangerous to fight against them."

I sighed.

"Go watch Jonah, okay?"

"All right." I went back down the hall toward Jonah's room. I wasn't going to wait for my mom to have mail for me to send; I was going on my own to send it today.

_**Thanks for reading! Please review, favorite, or story alert if u like it! Edward will come to the story eventually…it takes time lol. Thanks again everyone**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: Once again, these characters, etc from Twilight are not my ideas, they are Stephenie Meyer's. **_

_**Sorry if things in the story are going kind of slow…stuff will soon happen with the soldiers, concentration, etc. just keep reading! **_

With my dad at work for the day and my mom cleaning Jonah's room, I was able to leave the house without anyone knowing. It was about four o'clock, so it wasn't dark outside yet. There was a mail box two blocks away, so it would only take about 10 minutes to get there and back.

When I got to the mail box, I was about to open the drawer, but someone cleared their throat behind me. I slowly turned.

A soldier stood there, looking down at me. He was staring right at the letter.

"Good afternoon, sir." I said. "I was just mailing a letter to…my sick grandmother. She's from Poland. The poor woman, she's-"

The soldier wouldn't hear anymore of what I had to say, and he took the letter from me. I stared in horror as he opened the envelope, and then read the note. I hoped he couldn't read English. The only reason we spoke English was that my grandpa-my dad's dad-taught all his kids English. My dad decided to teach us as well, and it just happened that my mom spoke English when my dad met her.

Unfortunately, this soldier seemed to know English, for whatever reason. "This is for your grandmother, huh?" he asked with a strong German accent. "Because this says it's for the country of America."

"Yes, it is for that country. You see, she's actually on a trip there, so I didn't know the address of where she was. So, I wrote America so someone may figure it out." I smiled sheepishly.

"This reads, 'I need somewhere to come here and help us all'." Also, it doesn't say anything about your grandmother here."

"Well, it is for her. Can I please send it now? I have to get home soon."

"Were you really going to send this? What did you expect to come of it?"

I realized how foolish it was for me to try to send it. What would come of it, anyway? It probably wouldn't have even made it through the mail.

He ripped up the letter, allowing the pieces of paper to fall to the ground. "I suggest you go home before I call more soldiers to come here."

I looked at him again and then turned quickly and started running down the street.

I got home, looking around if my parents were there. My dad was still at work, and my mom was still in Jonah's room. I walked into the kitchen and sat at the counter.

"Hi, Bella." my dad greeted, walking in the front door a few minutes later. "How was your day?"

"Um, fine." I answered.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope. Everything's fine."

"All right. Where's your mom?"

"Jonah's room."

My mom came into the kitchen and said, "hi," to my dad. He looked upset about something. "What is it?" my mom asked, noticing his frown, too.

"Well…I lost my job today."

"Why?"

"My boss and his family went to a concentration camp last night. Now, the soldiers told us we are fired."

"Damn it." My mom said, frustrated. She hugged my dad. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right. We should be saying we are sorry to the kids."

They looked at me so upset, telling me they were sorry Jonah and I had to go through this just by looking at me. I didn't know what to say; now with my dad losing his job, we wouldn't be able to buy anymore food-not as much as we could afford with my dad's pay-and we would have to live off of all that we had left. Our money that we had now was soon to run out.

~Alice

"Aufmerksamkeit! Aufmerksamkeit!" one of the German soldiers ordered us. I had no idea what they were saying, but I stood in line with everyone else. I asked the person standing next to me, and they said they said, "Attention!"

We had just gotten to Auschwitz, and now we were on ground in a line, with all the soldiers in front of us. One walked back and forth, looking at each of us.

"Men on this side, women over there!" he ordered, speaking English. Everyone scrambled to go to the right side. I stood next to Annabelle and Sophie. Sophie clutched her mother's hand, and Annabelle was saying something to her.

A German woman ordered us to walk down the dirty path, and so we did. I was walking behind Annabelle and Sophie. Sophie was asking, "Mommy, where are we going now?"

Annabelle answered, "We're going to where we're going to be living from now on."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure, Sophie."

In the front of the line I could see the soldiers examining each person one by one. It seemed that the younger people went to one side, and the older ones to the other. Sophie and her mother were in the front then, and the soldier looked at Sophie and pushed her to the side with the younger people. Annabelle was pushed to the other side. Sophie cried out to her mother, but then was told to be quiet. Annabelle waved to her beloved daughter with tear-filled eyes.

The soldier looked at me and then pushed me toward the side where Sophie was. We began walking, the lines of both groups of people parallel. The groups were then separated and we went inside a small cabin-like room. The doors shut behind us, but the soldiers were inside the room as well.

"Attention!" one English-speaking soldier commanded, and everyone was silent, standing in a line. She walked back and forth, giving everyone a different look. "Now, we shall tell you what you are to do, where you are to go, based on your ages. Understand?"

No one said they understood. They weren't allowed to speak; but, if they were, I was sure no one did understand.

She went down the line, muttering "too young," or "right," as she separated kids and young adults into different groups. Sophie and three other little kids-one other girl, two boys-were in one group, and everyone else was in the other, including me.

"You," she pointed to Sophie and the other little kids, "will sleep over there." She gestured toward a small group of little bunk beds. "And all of you," she pointed to us, "will sleep on that side of the room." She said, gesturing toward the other side of the room. "Tomorrow you will begin your work." She then left without saying anything else, slamming the door behind her.

This was not going to be good.

~Bella

"Daddy, why did you lose your job?" Jonah asked at the dinner table. Today, we each only had half a piece of bread, to spare the rest of the bread that was left.

"The German soldiers think it's best that we don't work for a bit." My dad answered.

"Why?"

"Because they don't like Jewish people."

"Why?"

"Because, Jonah." I said angrily.

"Bella, don't be mad at him. Jonah, I don't really know why they don't like us. It's just how they are."

"When do you get your job back?"

"Not for awhile."

"Oh."

I looked at the empty chair next to my dad, where my mom was supposed to be sitting. Instead, she was in the living room, since she'd said she just wanted to lay down.

"Dad, why didn't we go into hiding, like Alice's parents?" I asked as we cleared away the dishes. Jonah was getting ready for bed, and my mom was still lying in the dark living room.

"It's a very big deal to go into hiding." My dad answered, washing a plate. He turned the water off and then turned to me. He sighed. "I couldn't find a way to hide us, to get us all somewhere we could be safe. The backyard-Alice's parents are only two people, so they could fit."

"Did you and Mom consider us going into hiding?"

"Yes. But, we couldn't find anywhere to go."

"Oh."

"Why don't you go to your room, maybe catch up on some sleep? I'll finish the dishes."

"All right. Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight."

I went down the hallway, and saw my mom in the living room. Quietly, I walked over to the couch where she was lying. "Mom?" I asked.

"What?" she asked tiredly. She sounded like she had just been crying. "Leave me alone, Bella."

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"I don't feel well."

"Are you sick? Are there any doctors around?"

"I'm not sick…I don't think I am, anyway."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I'm feeling a bit down. I'd like to be left alone, please, Bella."

I looked at her without saying anything. I understood what was going on with the war and everything, but seeing her this helpless and not trying to help her own son in the next room made me sad myself. "You have a little boy. He needs your help through this. He's trying to get changed right now but not succeeding. So I'm just saying, for his sake, maybe you could try to go to him now."

She didn't move; she just lay there.

"Fine, Mom, I'll go help him." I walked away, now annoyed at her. I understood she was sad about this all, but she could try to be a good mother to Jonah. Well, she was a good mother, but…I didn't know what to think.

Jonah was in his room, now in his pajamas and laying in his bed.

"Oh, you got changed yourself?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Mommy didn't tuck me in bed, though. She didn't tell me a story, either."

"I'm sorry," I told him while sitting on the bed. "Mommy is just not feeling well."

"Will she be all better tomorrow?"

I looked at him, shaking my head. "I don't know." I said. "I really don't know."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: I don't own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Characters, etc. **_

_**Anyway, so something big happens in this chapter, but it's kind of a short chapter. I will keep writing next time I get ideas, which will be probably by tomorrow lol. Enjoy the story!**_

On Sunday, I woke up because of a loud noise in the kitchen. Quickly, I jumped out of bed and went into the kitchen to see Jonah sitting on the floor, with pots around him. He looked up at me and laughed.

"What happened?" I asked, walking over to him to pick up the pots. I helped him up.

"I was trying to make breakfast." He explained. "Mommy didn't come out of bed this morning. When I went to wake her up she yelled at me."

"Aw, Jonah, Mom's feeling upset right now. I'll make you breakfast, okay?"

"Okay." He hopped up to the seat at the kitchen counter, and I got the bread out of the cupboard. I put a small amount of jelly on it, and then put the bread on a paper plate. I put the plate in front of him, and then walked away toward the living room. My mom lay on the couch in the darkened room, but my dad was not there as well. I wasn't sure if she was awake yet, but she'd never woken up just at this time. Usually she was up even before I got up to go to school.

"Who is it?" she asked darkly.

"Mom, what's wrong? I'm getting worried."

"I just…don't want to talk to anyone."

"Like I told you yesterday, Jonah needs you right now. He needs to be around, to be his mother, instead of almost getting knocked out by a ton of pots falling on him while trying to make breakfast. So…I know you're sad, but we all are. I miss Alice so much, but I'm trying to make Jonah happy because he's my brother."

My mom turned and looked at me. Her hair was a mess, and there were streak marks on her eyes. She smiled. "You're such a good sister." She said quietly. "Thank you."

"No problem." I said, smiling as well. "So, are you going to get up? Please?"

"Okay, Bella. Give me five minutes."

"All right." I went back to the kitchen, where Jonah had just finished eating. He put the plate by the small sink and then ran away to go to his room. I got rid of the plate and then my mom came into the room, dressed in regular clothes, compared to her pajamas. Her hair had been brushed, the tears on her eyes wiped away.

"Thanks, Mom."

"Why thank me?" she asked. "Where's Jonah?"

"In his room."

"Oh."

"Where's Dad?"

"Probably in the back." She yawned.

"Is it okay if I go back there?"

"Sure. Be quiet, though."

"Okay." I went out the front door of the house and ran to the back. I jumped down, catching my fall with my hands. I wiped the dirt off and looked at Alice's mother, father, and my dad. They had just been talking and were now looking at me, startled.

"Hi, everyone." I said. "Sorry to scare you, if I did."

"Good morning, Bella." My dad said. "How is your mother?"

"I got her to get up."

"Good. I was getting worried about her."

"Me, too."

"And Jonah?"

"I fed him breakfast. He's in his room, now."

"All right."

"Did you find out a way out of the country yet?" I asked Alice's parents. They looked at each other, and then at me.

"We were just talking about that." My dad answered for them. "It seems that some friends of theirs are arranging a way to get to Switzerland."

"And you can all come, too!" Alice's mom announced happily. She covered her mouth quickly, like she was not supposed to have told me.

I looked at my dad. He smiled at me, in triumph. I realized what this all meant. Switzerland was not part of the war…and we could leave. We could be free there, without people taking us to concentration camps since we were Jewish.

Could this be the key to finally being free?

*****

"When are we going to go to Switzerland?" I asked my dad eagerly as we walked back to the house after visiting Alice's parents.

"Don't speak of that out here." He warned. "The are people everywhere watching or listening."

"Sorry," I said as we walked in the front door of the house. We both pretty much ran to the kitchen to tell my mom the news. She was in the kitchen, back to her normal routine of cleaning.

"What is it?" she asked, noticing us wanting to tell her something.

"It seems that Alice's mother and father have found away for all of us to go to Switzerland. We can leave. Tomorrow." My dad announced to her. Well, that answered my question of when we were leaving.

My mom's eyes lit, and she smiled the most she'd smiled in weeks. "Really?!" she asked.

"Yes." My dad said, giving her a hug. "We're safe now."

The three of us stood there, all smiling at the fact we were able to be free and go to Switzerland. Jonah came out of his room, and I picked him up.

"What's going on?" he asked, noticing that something was either wrong, or good news was about.

"Jonah, tomorrow we're going away from home for a little bit." My mom explained. "It's not safe here right now, but once it is we'll come right home."

"How long will we be gone?"

"I don't know. But, you do want to see Switzerland, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then!"

Jonah ran back to his room. I looked at my parents. "Does this mean everything's going to be okay?"

My mom smiled at me. "I hope so, Bella. I really do."

*****

Jonah was not at dinner. In fact, I hadn't seen him the rest of the day, since we told him about going to Switzerland. I was all packed and ready to leave tomorrow, early in the morning.

"Where did Jonah go?" my mom asked, looking down the hallway. "He wasn't in his room."

"I'm not sure," my dad said.

"I'll go look for him." I offered, standing from the chair. I looked around the only floor of the house, looking in every corner of each room in case he'd decided to hide from us or something as a game. But, when I didn't find him, I decided to look out the front door. And, believe it or not, he was standing out by the curb of the street, a dark figure next to him.

"Mom? Dad?" I asked, my voice shaking from worry. I heard them stand from their seats and walk to where I was.

"What on Earth is he doing?!" my mom asked. We went outside after him, running toward him.

But suddenly, so suddenly, we were all grabbed by someone. I screamed from the sudden occurrence, and I tried to get out of the grasp that held me.

There were four soldiers there-one holding each of us. Jonah had already been being held when we got out there, it turns out. He was crying for my mom, dad, and I. I was screaming for my parents as well, and my parents both yelled at the soldiers ferociously, warning them that they'd better not hurt us, her children. I struggled to get out of the soldier's arms, but he was too strong.

"Ah, out after curfew, huh?" the soldier asked me. "Well, your family was going to be taken away today, anyway." He stopped talking for a minute. "Let's go!" he yelled to the other soldiers, and they all started walking toward the big truck that was down the street, us all trying to break free. Jonah was the only one not able to at least try to escape, since he was little and being carried.

They pushed us into the truck, and slammed the door. I held on to my parents and Jonah. Jonah whimpered in fear, and I just let the tears in my eyes flow. My mom was sobbing now, holding onto her children. My dad tried to stay quiet but instead ended up crying a lot as well.

Why had this happened so suddenly? One minute, we were going to Switzerland, and the next, we were caught by the German soldiers? I bit my lip so much that there must have been a cut as I thought.

The soldiers forced us out of the truck quickly when we got to the trains. I was shoved into one part of the train, and the rest of them somewhere else. When the doors were shut and it was pitch black, I started running to find them.

"Mom?!" I cried, running past all the people crowded in the train. They all complained when I ran past them, but I kept running. "Dad?!" The tears flew past me as I ran and the wind pushed against me.

"Bella?! Bella?!" my parents both cried, and I finally found them a few train cars over. I jumped into their arms, crying into their soldiers. I held Jonah as well, crying again once I heard his little cry of fear.

I sat down, Jonah sitting in my lap. The train moved along quickly, and the lights from outside flashed on me every once in awhile. I sniffled and looked at my parents, Jonah. Everything happened so suddenly; I never would've thought this would've happened as suddenly as it did.

"Kids…" My mom said in the silence of the train after about an hour. Everyone else was asleep. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"Stop, Mom." I cried, covering my mouth so I wouldn't wake everyone by sobbing.

"We must stay together."

"We will." My dad told her, not sounding very sure, though. I leaned my head back, looking up at the ceiling.

This would be a long night of sitting on this train, a long night indeed.

_**Sorry for the short chapter! Well, it seemed short to me! I'm out of words for now lol. Check out the story tomorrow, at some point I will update! Please review! Thanks everyone.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Ok so I'm sorry I couldn't update yesterday! I'm still not feeling well, but I wanted to write, so here I am! Anyway, thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Sorry I didn't reply, but thank u so much! **_

_**Again, I don't own Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters.**_

"Move, people! Come on!" A soldier demanded once we got to the camp. We were forced out of the train at first, and then started to be separated into two groups, depending on gender. A soldier broke my mom and dad apart, and they shouted for each other.

I just stood there, frozen in time, watching as everyone screamed for each other, and I felt so helpless. My dad looked at me as a soldier took my arm and walked me toward my mom. I couldn't say anything or do anything; I just stared after him and Jonah as they both stared back at me.

"Move along!" the soldier screamed in my face, and I shook my head and continued walking with everyone.

"Where are we?" I whispered to my mom as we both walked. Everyone was shouting in the background.

She turned to me, tears in her eyes. "We're in Auschwitz."

"Quiet!" a soldier demanded us. My mom turned quickly, looking forward. I marched along with the rest of the women there.

Why were we in Auschwitz? What had we done wrong?

We got to this small cabin-like room, with dirty bunk beds and dirty floors. Everyone piled into the room, and two soldiers came inside and shut the creaky door behind them.

"Now," a soldier said, looking at each of us, "you're work will begin tomorrow. Go to sleep, everyone! Now!"

Everyone scrambled to get to a bunk bed as she left, slamming the door behind her, causing the room to now be dark since she turned the light off. My mom grabbed my hand and we walked across the room, and she told me to sleep on the middle bunk, and she went on the one next to me.

She looked at me. "Are you okay?"

I looked back at her. "Of course I'm not okay."

"I know…Bella, the war must be ending soon, so…if we just hold on until liberation…"

"I know, I know. 'Then we'll be released and live happily ever after'. Is that what you were going to say?"

She sighed. "Pretty much."

I turned over and shut my eyes. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, Bella."

"Wake up! All of you!" The same soldier as yesterday came into the room, shouting. Everyone woke up and lazily got out of bed. I hadn't gotten enough sleep; I was awake half the night. I got out of bed and attempted to make my hair look decent, rather than the puffy mess it was. I yawned, and then followed everyone else, as they walked outside. The air was cold and brisk, and no one had jackets. We went into a large building, maybe a multi-purpose room, I figured.

"Sit!" We were ordered, and so we sat on the ground. I looked around, wondering what was to happen. The soldiers went to a closet and pulled out many of the same clothes. Throwing one at everyone, they demanded, "Change! Here!"

Everyone rushed to change out of their own clothes and into the old, worn-down outfits. The one I held was too big, but I had to wear it, anyway.

"Now," the soldier said once everyone was changed, "you will all go to work by working in the factories or outside. You will be working out on the grounds, plowing, digging, all of that. Get to work!"

We all marched out of the building, and my mom and I were given shovels to dig around. For what purpose, I didn't know. There was barely any sun out today; I was freezing. I shivered as I dug different holes. I'd heard from someone else there they were building some kind of building, so they decided to use us to build it.

I tried my best to keep from thinking about this all, and I tried just to think of when liberation would come…_if _it would ever come.

*****

Finally, the day ended, when it was pitch black outside. We were expected to find our way back to the cabin, so I followed everyone else. My mom was walking somewhere else, probably talking to another mother here, about their children or something.

As soon as we got back, I went to sleep, exhausted.

I went outside the next morning once we were woken up, and the sun was actually shining. I looked as everyone walked past to go to work. I sighed and then took a shovel.

This was going to be a long day…and so would every day from now on.

~Alice

"Get up, ladies!" we were ordered. I rolled out of bed and left right away to go outside. Today, I was to work by shoveling around to help build one of their new buildings. I didn't see the point.

Once I got to the building grounds, I noticed new people here, brought from many parts of the world. I looked at everyone and noticed someone familiar…

"Bella!" I cried, running over to where she was working. She dropped a shovel and then hugged me, crying herself.

"Alice!" she cried, looking at me with tear-filled eyes. "What are you doing here?!"

"What are _you _doing here?"

She just shrugged. "I missed you so much, Alice. I can't believe you're here!"

"Hey! Get to work!" a soldier supervising everyone ordered harshly. We both picked up our shovels and started working.

"When were you taken here?" I asked.

"We were going to go to Switzerland, but then we were taken the night before…we were about to be free. And your parents…they're, um, in hiding in my backyard."

"Seriously?" I asked. "Are they okay?"

"I think so…they didn't have them when they took us away. So…maybe they're still there."

"I hope so."

We continued to talk as we worked, so it didn't seem to be like work. I was talking to my friend, which is all I'd wanted to do since I'd gotten here.

…Not including the fact I'd also wanted to cry the whole time I was here.

_**Hope you liked it! Sorry for the short chapter…I have a cold :/ anyway so Edward will come soon :D, so don't worry. I'll try to update soon!**_

_**OH and by the way, I'm not gonna be here from Sunday-Thursday, so I won't be able to update till later next week. Sorry! I'll try to write as much as I can over the week, though. So anyway, review favorite, alert, etc! Thanks!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Authors Note: If u guys thought this was a new chapter, I'm sorry! I'm starting to feel better, but I'm not going to be able to update till Friday or Saturday. Sorry, everyone! But I will try to keep writing so I might have a lot to put up when I'm able to update again! I know I put this all as an Author's Note in Chapter 5 or 4, but I wasn't sure if everyone would know so I'm just reminding u all. Please check later this week for me to update. Thanks :D**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**OMG IM SORRY AGAIN IF U THOUGHT THIS WAS A CHAPTER, BUT I NEEDED TO TELL EVERYONE WHY I HAVEN'T UPDATED AND WHY I AM PISSED OFF.**_

_**So while I was gone, I was on vacation. You know how hotel rooms sometimes have safes? Well, I put my laptop on which I write all these fanfics in the safe. At the end of the day I turned the laptop on to write. Guess what I saw? A giant black spot in the middle of the screen…the damn safe crushed my computer! :0 I am so pissed off and now I don't know when I'll be able to update…I'll try to use the computer even though I won't be able to see the middle of the screen…hopefully either it will be fixed soon or I'll be able to get a new one… :/ anyway…sorry again for tricking you into thinking this was a new chapter, but I just had to tell everyone. I'm sad. Talk to you guys later. **_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Ok so my laptop is broken like I said before, but I'm putting this chapter up anyway :D I have another chapter, too, that's almost done. Anyway, I don't own any Twilight characters, etc. Enjoy the story!**_

~Bella

The days passed slowly, each day slower than the rest.

I had talked to Alice every day since we saw each other, which made the days seem a little better. I tried to think that my life meant something, and that once I got out of here I could make a difference about something…

And I also knew for some reason, something was about to come.

Today I was supposed to feed all of the soldiers their meal, since I was working in the kitchen. Compared to our scarce meals, they were fed a good amount. I carried each tray carefully, trying not to drop the food, and luckily I didn't drop anything.

I was finding my way to table 4 when I saw the soldier at table 5. I looked at him-more like drooled over him. He was young, I could tell, and he had bronze hair-a color hair I'd never seen before. And his eyes-a topaz color…I was afraid I'd get lost in those eyes if I looked at them too long. He smiled crookedly at another soldier, allowing his perfect teeth to show…

"My food?" a soldier at table 4 asked, glaring at me.

"Oh." I said, shaking my head and setting the plate down. "Please forgive me."

"Hmm."

I had two orders for table 5-one for him-whoever he was-and one for the other soldier he was talking to. I carried the trays over as carefully as possible, and put the one for him down first, and then I put the other's plate in front of him.

"It's about time," the other soldier said. "You are all so slow at serving food."

"I'm sorry, sir." I said nervously. "The chef has a lot of food to cook, so-"

"Shut up! I don't need to hear your excuses."

"Hey," the soldier I'd been looking at looked at the other. His voice was as perfect as his face. "Leave her alone."

He looked up at me, and I looked at him, surprised. "Thank you." He said to me. "Please forgive him-he's a little hungry, I suppose."

"Uh…n-no problem." I stuttered. I smiled, blushing, and then walked away to go back into the kitchen.

_I need to know his name, _I thought.

What was wrong with me? He was one of them; a soldier, a Nazi. But he talked to me in such a nice way…Ugh, I didn't know what to think!

I continued to deliver everyone's food, but no one had said "thank you", like he had.

Maybe he was kind.

"All right, you can go." A woman told me once the kitchen was cleaned that night. I took the apron I wore off and then started walking outside toward the cabin, in the pitch black. The wind made me shiver; it seemed so evil out here. I continued walking, the air in front of me clouds from my breathing.

Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a building, covering my mouth while doing so. I looked at who it was, eyes widened.

He looked absolutely perfect, even in the dark. His eyes shined, his hair was messy, yet still perfect. He smiled down at me.

"Um…hi." I said nervously.

He backed away. "Hi." He said.

Was he going to say something…?

"So…I'm guessing you wanted to talk to me, huh?" I asked.

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"I'm Bella Swan." I said. "What's your's?"

"Edward Cullen."

Edward Cullen. The name played in my head over and over.

"So you're a…" I trailed off. "A…soldier?"

"Yes." He said quietly.

"And I'm Jewish. Why would you want to talk to me?"

"Because…something about you made me want to talk to you."

I smiled.

"How old are you, Isabella?"

"Isabella?"

"Isn't that your name?"

"Well, yeah, but I like being called Bella."

"Oh."

"And I'm 15. How old are you?"

"17."

I didn't know what else to say. I looked into his eyes, and they shined in the moonlight.

How could a human be that perfect?

"So, Bella, you want to talk tomorrow, maybe, when you're not shivering?" He grinned.

I looked at my arm, which had goose-bumps. "Oh, right. Sure."

"So…I'll see you tomorrow, Bella."

"Yeah. Bye, Edward." I stared after him as he walked away, grinning first. I walked back toward the open path and then got to the cabin, where everyone was already sleeping. I lay in my bunk and drifted off to sleep, tired from the increasingly long days.

"Bella?" a voice, seeming like an angel's, asked. I opened my eyes, and there was Edward, upside down, standing on the ground in front of the bunk bed. I looked up at him.

"Hi." I said, rubbing my eyes. "What time is it?"

"Four," he admitted, grinning. "I couldn't sleep. And…we're not allowed to speak to each other, so if we did talk, it would have to be now."

"Well…okay. Let's go outside, then." I looked at my mom, who was still sleeping, and then got out of bed and left the cabin with him.

We sat next to the cabin, on the cold ground.

"So…" He said, clearing his throat. "When did you come here?"

"A few days ago." I said. "I've only eaten twice the whole time I was here."

He shook his head, looking down.

"I'm guessing you don't like people like me, right?"

He looked at me and shook his head. "I'm not against the Jewish. Not at all."

"Then why would you work for Hitler?"

"Because I had to."

"Why?"

"They all ordered that young men join them, and so I was forced to. They threatened to kill my family and myself if I hadn't joined."

"Do they know you're against them?"

"I can't let them know too much. Then, they'd kill me."

"Then…just leave or something."

"And, what? Leave all of you people here to die? For my own needs?"

"This is not your fault. You leaving wouldn't make the killing of the Jews any faster."

"But still…if I leave, I'd have to take some Jews with me."

I smiled at him.

"What?"

"I always thought the soldiers were all mean."

"I am mean. I work for them."

"No you aren't. You know this is wrong, at least."

"Who wouldn't?"

"The rest of them."

He was silent.

"Tell me, have you ever had to…kill?"

He looked straight ahead. "They order us to shoot to kill."

"And have you had to do that?"

"Yes," he whispered after a minute.

I turned his face to me; it was strange how I already felt like I knew him so well, even when we'd only met a day ago. "It was not your fault." I told him quietly.

"I could've just told them to kill me, so I didn't have to stay here."

"You saved your family by joining them." I paused. "What is your family like?"

"I have a mother and two sisters, both younger than I. My dad passed away when I was one. She got remarried, and had my two sisters with my step dad."

"Oh. I'm sorry," I said. "What's your mother like?"

"She was so kind and loving and quiet. She tried to get me out of joining, but couldn't."

"How old are your sisters?"

" 5 and 8."

"Oh."

"What about your family?"

"I lived with my mother, father, and little brother. He's 5."

"'Lived?'"

"Now that we're here, I think we're here for the rest of our lives…"

"Don't say that, Bella. Liberation-"

"Liberation will come? That's what my mom says, but has it come yet? No."

"It takes time."

I sighed. "I know."

"Where are your father and brother?"

"We got separated when we first got here." I bit my lip, trying to stop the tears from flowing. "But…I didn't even say goodbye. I just stared at them!" The tears came. "I'm such an idiot."

I covered my face to cry, now embarrassed that I'd cry in front of Edward. He, to my surprise, took me in his arms to comfort me. I looked up at him, and he looked at me with a serious expression.

"It's okay that you didn't say anything," he told me, "they probably know what you wanted to say. That's how it was when I left my family."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Some soldiers came to get me, and my mother was crying and begging for me to be able to stay, and my sisters cried, too. I just stayed silent and looked at my mom as I left." He shook his head, trying to shake the memory away. "To this day I don't know if she knows how much I love her."

"How old were you?"

"I'd just turned 17...on that day, too."

"On your birthday?"

He nodded.

"That's awful."

I looked to the side and saw the gun in his belt. I gulped. "That gun…" I trailed off.

"Will never be used by me." He finished.

I smiled at him. "I feel so bad for you."

"For me? Why? I feel sorry for you, Bella. No one deserves the treatment you get from everyone here. What have you eaten while you were here?"

"On the second day I was here, I had a piece of bread, and I ate the same on the fifth day I was here."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out more bread. "This is from the dinner you served me yesterday," he explained, placing the bread in my hand.

"Thank you," I said, taking a bite. I ended up eating all of it, even though I hadn't planned to.

"Wake up! All of you!" a soldier shouted in the cabin that was next to us. It was time for a new day to start…a day without being able to talk to Edward.

Edward pulled me up so I was standing. "I have to go, and so do you."

"Edward…when will we be able to meet again?"

"Tonight. Midnight. Here." He said. "Goodbye, Bella," he said, walking away.

I quickly ran to the group of people in my cabin, who were walking out toward the grounds again. I sighed at the fact we had to help build that building again. I'd much preferred working in the kitchen. I met up with Alice, who was not looking so well. Her face had gone pale, and her expression was not as happy as it used to be. She had lines under her eyes from tiredness.

"Hi, Alice," I said, walking next to her, "How are you feeling?"

"Not good." She said quietly. "I seem to have a cold, I think."

"You should tell someone."

"I did. They don't care. They moved me to a cabin full of sick people."

"But that means they can get you sick with something even worse than a cold. Something fatal!"

She shrugged. "I guess they just don't care. None of them do."

"Some do." I suggested.

"I doubt that. They're all mean."

"There's at least one that isn't."

"Are you quite sure of that?"

"Yes. I know it."

"And how is that?"

I looked around to make sure no one was listening. "I met this guy."

"Seriously, Bella? You're trying to meet guys at a time like this?"

"I didn't try to meet him. I was serving dinner yesterday, and he stood up for me when another soldier yelled at me."

"He's a Nazi?!"

"Yes. But he's only-"

"A Nazi!"

"He was forced to join the Nazis! Or else he and his family would've died. He refuses to be mean to any of the Jewish people. We talked last night and this morning, just a few minutes ago. You should see him, Alice. He is so-"

"Don't say he's good looking. Never say that about one of them."

"He's not like the rest of them!"

"How do you know that, Bella? He could be faking."

"He isn't."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do. And if you can't believe me…"

"What? You won't be my friend?"

"I don't know, Alice."

"So you're telling me you like some guy who is part of the group of people who took millions of innocent people from home and put them here to die? And one of the people taken is your 5 year old brother! Seriously, Bella?"

"You make me liking someone sound like a crime."

"When you like one of _them _it is."

I glared at her. "He's one of the only friends that understands. Now that you don't understand, he's the only one." I kept walking ahead, but she did not try to stop me from walking away.

It might have been wrong for a Jewish girl to like a Nazi boy. But…Romeo and Juliet were wrong to be together, right?

I began the work for the day, looking forward to seeing Edward. He'd be what I had to look forward to everyday, now.

~Edward

I hoped she'd been given an easy job for the day, not something like construction. When I first saw Bella, I knew that she'd be a good person…but I didn't know why. She looked at me the same way, but I still feared that she feared me. Well, what Jewish person wouldn't? Look at me; I'm destroying people's lives. I'm a horrible person…a lousy brother to my sisters. A lousy son to my mother.

I didn't have to supervise today, so I was sitting in the main building with some of the other soldiers, Aro, Felix, and Caius. They sat around me at the circular table, drinking water. The three of them were all in agreement with Hitler's ideas and beliefs. I had to pretend to be in front of them, in order not to be sentenced to death.

"There is a shipment of them coming today." Aro announced.

"A shipment?" I asked. How could the people be referred to as a "shipment"? They were human beings for crying out loud!

He laughed. "Oh, Edward-more Jews."

"I know what it means."

"Then why ask?"

They all chuckled as I sat there.

"When are the people being gassed?" Felix asked.

"Tomorrow." Aro replied.

"Let me see the list." I demanded. I grabbed the paper from Aro's hand and read through it, hoping Bella's name was not on there. Actually, I wished no one had to be on there.

As I scanned through the list, there I saw it:

Bella Swan

I stared at the name in panic.

"Something wrong, Edward?" Caius asked.

"Why is she here?" I pointed to Bella's name.

"Because she's too young to work."

"She's fine! She's working right now. She even served the dinner yesterday!"

"Oh, was that her?" Aro asked, putting a hand to his chin.

"Yes."

"Oh."

"…And you don't care?"

"Why would I?"

"Because she's a human being."

"Edward, I thought you hated Jews."

"I think you should give the younger ones a chance to work."

"Well, that does make sense. We'll look into that. Caius!" He shouted, thrusting the paper at him. "Take this and rearrange it."

"Of course, Aro." He said, leaving the room.

Aro grimaced at me. "You think you've won, Edward. But you haven't." He hissed, getting up and leaving. Felix followed close behind, leaving me sitting there, able to sigh in relief.

Bella was safe.


	9. Chapter 9

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. **_

_**~There are a lot of character Point of View changes in this chapter. **_

_**Hope you like the story!**_

~Bella

Work had been long today-when hasn't it?-and I was relieved to be able to go back to the cabin. Now, all I had to do was wait until midnight, so I could go talk to Edward. The older woman who was nearby had a clock, and she'd told me whenever I wanted I could see the time. I don't know why she'd told me this, but I didn't question her. It was ten now, and we were just given a piece of bread each. I sat next to my mom, since I hadn't talked to her in awhile. She was working somewhere new, now.

"Have you eaten enough?" my mom asked me.

"Yes, Mom." I answered.

"Why weren't you here this morning when we were supposed to wake up?"

"I…went to take a walk…"

"Isabella, you can't do that! What if a Nazi saw you?"

_One did see me, all right. I was out because of one._

I shrugged. "Sorry."

"You should be." She sighed. "I need you to be safe, well as safe as you can be around here. I wouldn't be able to stand it if you were caught wandering."

"I wasn't wandering. This is where we live now."

"Don't you dare say that! We will never call this place home."

"Then what do you call it? Vacation?"

"I call it prison."

"So does everyone else here, but maybe prisoners think of prison as home. Ever think of that? Maybe, just maybe we do live here now. We're in jail…for-."

My mom wouldn't hear any more; she pulled her hand back and hit me in the face with as much force as possible. I heard the slap at first, and then the stinging pain came. I looked back at her, holding my cheek.

She looked at me, pained. "Bella, I'm sorry. I don't know why I-"

"Go away!" I said, getting up and walking away. I left the cabin, and sat at the spot next to the building where Edward and I had talked yesterday. I wrapped my arms around my knees and cried quietly.

Two hours must have gone by, since Edward came. "Bella?" he asked, worried. "What happened?" he lifted me up, sat, and then let me lean on him.

"My mom…she hit me."

"Why?"

"We were talking about life here and stuff…I can't remember! I don't know why, she just did!"

"It's okay, Bella."

"No wonder why she doesn't love me anymore. I said mean things."

"Of course she loves you."

"She doesn't."

"Look, by tomorrow I'm sure she'll have forgiven you. For now, just rest from your day working."

We were quiet for a few minutes, looking at the stars in the sky. Then, he spoke, clearing his throat first. "Today they had a list…a list of Jewish people to be gassed tomorrow." I saw the Adam's apple in his throat move as he gulped. "And you were on it, Bella."

My eyes widened. I was supposed to die tomorrow?

"But…" He added, "I convinced them to take every young person's name off. I said they were good at working, and that was a good idea to them."

"What about my parents? My brother?"

"I didn't see them. I don't know why your brother's name wasn't on it, though. I would've stopped them, though."

I felt comfortable with him to give him a hug. "Thank you so much, Edward. You saved my life."

"Not really. I'm part of the cause you're here."

"Stop saying that. Were you the soldier that grabbed me from my house and yelled at me, or the one that ripped up mail I wanted to send? Or the one who took my grandma? Or the one who took my friend, Alice? No. You're not like them, even you know that."

"You're one of the few people who would ever understand me."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

He let me lay in his lap, and I gazed up at each star. The night was cool, with a light breeze brushing past us.

"Where is your friend, Alice?" he asked suddenly.

"Here. We just got in a fight."

"Not about me, I hope."

"Well, not all about you. I told her about you, and about how some people can be different than the rest, but she didn't believe me and was mad at me for liking you. I'm mad at her for not trusting me by saying you're a good person."

"You shouldn't fight over me, Bella. We've only known each other for two days."

"But I feel like I've known you for so much longer."

"Me, too."

I sat up and looked at him, our faces close, both of us just staring into each other's eyes. I got to look at his golden eyes, making my eyes look boring compared to his.

"You have a girlfriend back where you live?" I asked, smiling.

He laughed. "No."

"Why not?" Surely someone like him would have a girlfriend.

"None of the girls in town seemed to catch my attention."

"None in your town?"

"No. But someone in my country does."

"Really? What's she like?"

"Well, she's not that tall, no offence to her, she had brown hair, the prettiest chocolate brown eyes…"

"Sorry, Edward, but my mom's not interested in younger men."

We both burst out laughing. While laughing, we both somehow leaned closer to each other. I didn't know whether or not to kiss him now, but he made that decision by doing so. I hadn't kissed many people before, only two, but they were nothing compared to now. Back then, I wasn't sure if I honestly really liked the person, it might have just been a crush, where you don't really know the truth. But with Edward, I knew that we honestly belonged together…even if we had only known each other for two days.

I sat back, and looked at him, smiling a bit.

"What about you? Any boyfriends back where you're from?" he asked.

"No."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not! Like you, I don't really like any of them in town that way."

"Ah, I'm sure."

"Edward?" I said quietly, looking up at the sky again.

"Yes?"

"What happens if we're caught…? I don't want you to die because of me. I'd rather they just kill me. I am the prisoner here, after all."

"I am a prisoner here as well. And if we are caught, I assume they will try to kill us."

"They-"

"_Try._ I didn't say they'd ever be able to get to you."

I just smiled and leaned on his shoulder. He held me in his arms, making me almost forget everything going on in life.

Almost.

~Edward

"So, you were out taking a walk, correct?" Aro asked me once I'd gotten back to the cabin after seeing Bella. She'd fallen asleep in my arms, so I had to carry her back to her cabin. I told Aro I'd been taking a walk.

"That is correct," I answered. "You sure are smart, Aro."

"Smarter than you will ever be."

"Will you two stop fighting?" Caius asked. "It's quite annoying."

"Edward likes to be childish, so I might as well humor him." Aro said to him.

I sighed.

"What have you really been up to?" Felix asked.

"Walking."

"Mm-hmm."

"Did you fix that list?"

"Yes, that girl you wanted to be removed from the list has been. So have some other people."

"Good."

"You're welcome." Aro spat.

"Thank you so much, Aro." I said sarcastically.

"This kid should watch his mouth." Caius said. Just because they were many years older than me, didn't mean they knew more than I did. I was smarter than any of them. At least, I had better judgment of people.

"Yes, he should." Aro looked at me. "Edward? Would you be ever so kind as to get me something to drink?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"And why is that?"

"Because maybe you should get off your-"

He stood abruptly and went to me to fight. If anyone approached me, I was going to fight back. So, as he threw a punch, I blocked it and gave him a punch to the gut. He fell back, the tables and chairs screeching against the ground. I stood in front of him, who was now on the ground, handed him a glass of water, and stepped over him to leave the room. I went to the next room to go to sleep as Caius and Felix went to help him up. Aro called me a name not to be repeated and swore that someday, I'd be sorry.

~Alice

I coughed for the thousandth time today, and I covered it with my elbow. I was in the sick cabin, where all the diseased people stayed. I didn't get it; now that I had a simple cold, I had to stay here and possibly get something even worse. Did they care? No.

And now Bella was probably off somewhere with some soldier. Was she out of her mind? Soldiers have taken away everything from us, and she knows that, but now she decided to give one a chance and let him lie to her about him being "good". How could any of them be good? Wouldn't they eventually turn into one of them, after being in concentration camps or taking enough people away from home?

I didn't have to work today, since they didn't want me getting the rest of their workers sick. That was the only reason. If I wasn't contagious, I probably would've had to work. They don't care how badly I feel. They only cared about themselves.

Which proves my point.

I rolled over in bed, looking at all the coughing people, and they were all frail and pale. Could we get some food around here? These people already had to suffer through having an illness, and now they were starving. I was hungry, too…not starving yet, but close to it. And now that I was here, I'd probably get fed less.

An older woman walked over to me, and she handed me a small bite of bread. I sat up and took the offering.

"Thank you," I said to her, eating the bread immediately.

"I saw that you don't look so well." She said.

"Neither do you, Ma'am. And neither does anyone around here."

"I know. I'm running out of bread…" She coughed, shook her head, and walked away. I swallowed the last of my bread and lay back down next to some guy-about my age-who had a pale face and stared up tiredly at the ceiling. He noticed my looking at him and turned to me.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Sorry," I said, looking around. "I just noticed you look sick."

He laughed with no humor. "You're very observant, aren't you?"

"You could say that. I'm Alice."

"Jasper."

"And how long have you been here?"

"A year, maybe. I stopped counting the days awhile ago. You?"

"A few weeks."

"Don't worry, the real torture is soon to start."

"What disease do you have?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, either. I think it's a cold, but you can never be sure."

We both didn't say anything then, but I was glad to have someone new to talk to. Someone who actually understood.

~Bella

I woke up when everyone started screaming at us, and I rolled out of bed, ready for a long day of work. I walked out of the cabin, following everyone, but then being grabbed by the arm and pulled behind the cabin. I smiled, knowing it was Edward, because of the coolness of his hand on my arm. I looked up at him, who was now standing in front of me and looking down at me. He let go of my arm and smiled.

"I should be working." I said quietly.

"So should I." He said.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Have you ever skipped school?"

"Never."

"Well now you can skip."

"But…we'll get caught. We can't."

"We can."

"What's wrong with you? This isn't school where you just get yelled at. We'd get killed. And it's easy for you to skip working. You're one of the leaders of this camp."

"But I know we won't get caught. And if we do, I'll find a way to get you out of trouble."

"I can't. It's too dangerous, Edward, don't you see?"

"Don't _you _see?"

I groaned. "Edward, I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'm leaving now. I'll see you later." I started to walk away, but he grabbed my arm.

"Bella." He sighed. "Trust me."

There were tears in my eyes. I just couldn't risk it; this was crazy. "I'm sorry," I whispered, leaving his hold of my arm and walking away, toward the group of people working. I didn't look back as I walked away.

~Edward

I now knew what a monster I was. Bella couldn't trust me.

I looked after her as she pretty much ran away from me, afraid of what was to happen if she were seen with one of us…a Nazi. I couldn't blame her, either.

What would it take for her to see that I wanted to help her…? I wanted so badly as to help her escape this camp, to be able to be happy again.

For now, I'd have to talk to her in order for her to feel safe again.

"Oh, Edward?" Aro asked, walking over to me. "What are you doing over here?"

"Why is it to your concern?" I asked.

He shrugged and chuckled. "I don't know, but I saw you with someone…you were talking to them…?"

I gulped.

"Who was it?"

"Nobody. I wasn't talking to anyone."

"That is the worst lie I've ever heard from you so far."

"I don't recall ever lying to you."

"Hmm, I'm sure."

"Don't you have something better to do than accuse me of lying, Aro?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have something better to do than talking to yourself?"

I rolled my eyes. "You'd better go," I hissed. "I'm not in the mood to talk to you."

"What, you'd rather beat me up? Hmm? Because, last time I checked, I am many years older than you, therefore more experienced. So…if you're going to fight me, I suggest you go easy on yourself. Don't strain any muscles."

I clenched my teeth together, fighting the urge to punch him in the face.

"What is it, Edward?" he asked, grinning. "Are you trying to control your hatred toward me?"

"Obviously." I said.

"Well, good luck with that." He started to walk away, his back turned to me. I couldn't stand the fact he was getting away with acting like that, so I walked toward him. I turned him around, and he looked at me, panicked. I punched him in the nose, causing him to fall to the ground, now with a bloody nose.

"Don't strain yourself getting up." I said, walking away. I heard him running behind me, and then was tackled to the dirt. I pinned him to the ground, punching him. Like I said before, if anyone approached me to fight, I would fight back. Two soldiers came, blowing whistles and pulling us off each other. We all went into the main building and were seated across from each other. Many soldiers stayed to listen to our argument.

"What do you two think you're doing, fighting?" Demetri, another soldier, asked harshly. When he was angry, he sure was angry. "You are always the ones to fight! You act like children!"

"Edward is being uncooperative toward all of us." Aro said, glaring at me.

"Aro acts like he's my age again. Which he wishes he was." I said.

"You both cannot act like this all the time." Demetri said, shaking his head. "Why is it you two always fight?"

"Because he is not one of us." Aro suggested.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He looked at me with the worst look he'd ever given me. He knew something; he knew that I did not agree with all of them. And he knew that I knew.

He couldn't tell them.

I looked at him pleadingly.

"Aro?" Demetri asked.

"Nothing, Demetri." Aro said. I sighed in relief.

"All right, then. Everyone, let's get back to work. You two, talk it out or something. I do not want you fighting any more."

"Yes, Demetri." Aro said, giving me a sly smile as everyone, including us, left.

For now, I was not in trouble. Aro saved me for some reason…not a good reason, I knew. He was up to something…but what?

_**Hope you liked it! Please review, favorite, alert, etc.! Thanks!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**_

_**Sorry I haven't updated the past few days…I had a lot of last minute homework I'd forgotten about! **_

_**Anyway, hope you enjoy the story!**_

~Bella

I couldn't feel my legs as I walked back to the cabin. I needed sleep-and lots of it. As we walked, I saw some other people walking across from us. I squinted to see who it was, and I saw Jonah and my dad. I hadn't seen them in so long, it seemed. Poor little Jonah, being forced to work. Poor everyone here, for that matter.

Jonah and my dad saw me and gave a limp wave. I waved back, and I was the only one to smile at them; they must have been through so much work. We continued walking, then finally got to the cabin.

I collapsed on my bed as soon as we got there, so I could sleep until midnight. Once it was midnight, I would go behind the cabin to see if Edward would come. I needed to know why he wanted to leave working today.

The entire camp was silent when I woke up. Quietly and quickly I left the cabin and ran behind the building. He wasn't there. Would he even show up?

My eyes adjusted to the dark, and I saw a figure emerging. I thought immediately it was Edward. I walked over to him.

"Edward?" I asked.

He didn't say anything; he just disappeared.

What was that about?

"Bella?" Edward's voice asked from behind me, and I turned quickly, startled. He grabbed my arms, his face close to mine.

"Edward," I said, "was that you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"There was someone…there." I pointed to the spot.

"Did they see you?"

"Yes."

He still held my arms, but looked down, thinking.

"It might have been my imagination."

He stayed quiet, and then finally said, "I suppose."

"I need to talk to you about something." I said, sitting down on the mud. He sat next to me.

"What? About today?" he asked.

"Yes. Why would you want to put yourself in such danger? You know what would've happened if we were caught."

"I know…but…I wanted to spend time with you, Bella, during the day. The only time we can talk is at midnight, when it is cold and dark outside. I want to be able to see your face clearly, rather than in the shadows."

"This is the only way we can see each other. For now we'll have to be grateful that we can talk at least once a day."

"I know. I'm sorry for asking you to take such a risk, Bella."

"It's okay."

We were both silent, the only noise being the wind going past.

"How's Alice?" he asked.

I looked at him. "I'm…not sure. I haven't seen her."

"You shouldn't be arguing with her. What was the argument about, again?"

"She says I shouldn't talk to you because of who you are. She says it's wrong that I trust you. She thinks you're lying."

"Actually…I don't blame her. I mean, I am not lying, I promise you that, but she's right not to trust one of us. After all you have been through, you have the right to not trust us."

"But she should trust me when I say that you're good."

He shrugged. "I just know why she thinks what she thinks, and you shouldn't blame her for it."

I groaned. "I'll talk to her."

"Thank you." He said, smiling.

I sighed. "So do you have any friends here that are soldiers?" I asked.

"None at all. I'm just bothered by them."

"How?"

"The one who bothers me the most is Aro. He knows that I'm friends with you, I think. No, wait-he knows that I'm against the beliefs of the other soldiers here."

"Seriously? Did you try to tell him not to say anything or something?"

"He _chose _not to tell them…he had the chance, but he didn't say anything. I don't know why. He's up to something bad."

"What are you going to do?"

He shrugged. "I don't know yet. Maybe talk to him later, to see what he knows. As long as he doesn't know about you, it's okay."

"Please, Edward, don't make it all about me. You should get yourself safe from him, too."

"I guess."

We heard a light chuckle above the wind.

"What was that?" I asked.

He looked around, a serious emotion on his face. "Uh…I don't know, but it can't be good. I have to go." He stood quickly.

"Edward, wait." I said, standing after him as he quickly walked away.

"I have to go, Bella." He said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I sighed as he disappeared, and I was now in the dark night, alone.

~Alice

"Seriously?" I asked, laughing as Jasper told me a funny story about his friends back home. It was good to laugh after awhile; it made me forget for a minute about where we were.

"Yup." He said, laughing as well. He cleared his throat. "How about you, Alice? What were your friends like? Please don't tell me they were as strange as my friends."

"My best friend's name was Bella. She's here." I said.

"If she's here, then why _was _she your friend, rather than still being your friend?"

"Long story."

He gestured around the room with his arms. "I think we have time. I can hear it."

"I don't think I should tell you. Long story short, we're not that much of friends anymore."

"You don't trust me to tell me?"

I shrugged, embarrassed. I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell Jasper about Bella associating with one of the soldiers, no matter how much I wanted to tell him. "It's not that I don't trust you," I explained, "I just can't."

"Well, all right, then."

I looked at his pale face. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Fine. Why?"

"You look really sick."

"Same goes for you."

"Well, I wouldn't know, since I can't see me, only you can, obviously."

"Lucky me."

I blushed. "Is that supposed to be sarcasm?" I asked.

His smile fell. "No, no. You're very pretty, Alice." He said.

"Thanks." I said quietly, trying again to hide a blush.

~Edward

Where the hell did they go?

Bella and I both heard it-someone laughing, someone listening to our conversation.

And Bella had said she saw someone before…

Were they listening to us? Or maybe they were somewhere else, but we could hear? I needed to find out. I searched that part of the camp, but came up empty. They'd gone once they realized I was looking for them.

I went into the main building and got something to drink. Aro was sitting at the table, reading something. I sat across the table, looking at him, still shocked he hadn't gotten me in trouble with Demetri.

"Maybe you should draw yourself a picture of me," he said, sliding a pencil and a piece of paper at me without looking up from what he was reading, "so you wouldn't have to stare at my face all the time."

"Ha ha," I said sarcastically, sliding the paper and pencil back at him. "Aro, I need to ask you something."

"What?" he asked.

"Put the book down."

He slammed the book down and looked up at me, smirking. "Okay, Edward, what do you want?"

"Why did you not say anything the other day? I mean, to Demetri."

He shrugged. "Maybe I was in a nice mood."

"How long will that mood last?"

He shrugged again. "I'm not sure."

"Whatever it is you think, it's not true."

He laughed. "Right, Edward. Because you honestly want to be a soldier? I'll believe it when I see it."

"What is your goal? To make me look like an idiot?"

"Way to change the subject. And maybe that's part of it. The other part is something else."

"What, then?"

He grabbed the book dramatically, stood, and slammed his hands on the table. He looked at me straight in the eye and said, "I don't like fakes," and walked away.

I thought about that as I sat at the table, now alone.

~Bella

"Alice?" I said quietly, shaking her to wake her up. It was about one in the morning, and I wanted to apologize to her now, after what Edward had said. I knew he was right.

"Ugh, what?" she asked tiredly. She realized it was me and said, "Oh, it's _you_."

"Alice, I need to apologize. I-"

"But do you want to apologize? Maybe you need to apologize, but it doesn't mean you mean it."

"Well, I do. I'm sorry I got mad at you. I understand why you don't trust Edward, but-"

"Oooh, he's got a name."

"But he really is different. Anyway, so I hope you can forgive me. I was being stupid."

"I won't disagree with that."

"Will you forgive me?"

She looked around, and then sighed. After a minute of thinking, she said, "Fine."

"Thank you, thank you!" I said, giving her a hug.

"Shush, some sick people are trying to sleep." She said.

"Sorry. I'll see you later, okay?"

"All right."

"Feel better."

"I'll try."

I walked out of the cabin and started back to my cabin. The sound of crickets rang in my ears. I hoped no one was awake, so they wouldn't hear me walking around.

I went to sleep once I got back; a couple of hours was not enough sleep for how tired I was after working.

_**Hoped everyone liked it! Don't worry-the whole story won't be as slow as this seems…things are still building up. Anyway, please review, favorite, alert, etc. thanks! **_


	11. Chapter 11

_**I do not own ANY of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. **_

~Alice

I stretched when it was time to wake up. I'd heard the soldiers waking them up from the other cabins, so I decided to wake up as well. I looked to my left, and Jasper was laying awake, looking sick as ever.

"I hear Bella apologized to you?" he asked.

I gulped. "Yeah. You heard?"

"She talks pretty loud."

"Oh. Sorry that she woke you up."

"It's all right. So…she's friends with a soldier? Edward, his name was?"

"How did you know?"

"I could take a guess from what she said."

"Please don't tell anyone, Jasper. It could be dangerous."

"I wont, Alice. But…can you trust me?"

"Of course." I looked around the room, but it was much emptier than it had been yesterday. I looked back at Jasper. "Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Um…I think that they were…um…"

Shock ran through me. I knew what he was trying to say. "Did they…die?" I whispered.

He bit his lip. "Uh…I think so." He gulped.

Tears brimmed in my eyes; so many were gone. So many had already been gone, and so many more were going to be gone soon, if this didn't stop. "Oh, Jasper!" I cried, the tears pouring out.

Awkwardly, he reached out and put an arm around my shoulder. I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Thanks for being so nice to me," I said quietly as we sat there, looking around the almost-empty room we were in.

"How could I not be?" he said just as quietly. "You're the nicest girl I've ever met."

~Edward

Some of us remained at the table, eating breakfast. These people were Caius, Felix, Aro, and I. I sat there silently, while the three of them talked.

"Why so quiet, Edward?" Caius asked, trying to annoy me.

I put my hand to my ear, like I couldn't hear him.

"Edward, stop acting so childish." Aro said.

"You act the same as I do." I said.

"I haven't acted childish today. You started it."

"It's childish to announce who started a fight."

"And you don't do that?"

"I never said I wasn't childish."

He sighed and continued talking to Caius and Felix. I glared at Aro, trying to find out what he was planning on doing.

"Where were you yesterday?" I heard Caius ask Aro. "It was late, when we were all supposed to be here."

"I had something to take care of." Aro answered.

At midnight, Bella and I had been talking.

And we'd heard someone…

I shook my head, trying not to show that I was worried. The last thing I needed was for Aro to start questioning me.

Caius and Felix left, leaving Aro there, smirking at me evilly.

"Something wrong, Edward?" he asked. "Maybe, you were caught doing something you shouldn't be doing? Are you feeling guilty about something?"

"No, Aro." I said as calmly as possible.

"Really? Because I think I saw you yesterday…actually, this morning. At midnight, about?"

My jaw clenched together. What to say?

"I know what you're up to, Edward. Let's make a deal, now. And don't try to play any tricks. This is serious. Understand?"

Slowly, I nodded, glaring down at the table.

"Now, as long as you don't want me to tell everyone about that girl being your friend and you lying to everyone, you will do as I say."

"What do you want?" I asked dryly.

"I want you to do as I order you. Maybe do my work for me whenever, or get me something to eat whenever, and talk to the other soldiers about me in a good way so one day, I can be promoted in ranking."

"You can't blackmail me."

"I believe I can, because no one else knows," he gestured with his arms around the silent room. "So, what do you say, Edward? Is Bella enough to make such a sacrifice?"

I couldn't say no; I needed to keep Bella safe from harm. If I didn't listen to him, she'd be in huge trouble, as well as I would. So, I nodded solemnly, while glaring at him.

"Good." He stood. "I'll give you one day off. Just for today, I suppose."

I got up to walk away.

"Hey," he called.

I turned. "What?" I asked, furious.

"What do you say to me for giving you the day off?"

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks." I muttered as I walked away.

How I despised that guy.

~Bella

_Keep working, don't give up. _I told myself as I worked that day. The sun was directly above us, making the work much more difficult. I wiped my forehead and carried more cement pieces toward the working grounds.

"Bella," Edward called to me from above where I was working, under the ground. I looked up; he was one of the supervisors today?

"Hi, Edward." I said tiredly.

"I need to tell you something. Meet me outside the cabin at midnight, okay?"

"Okay. Good news or bad news?"

"Bad."

"Damn it."

I continued my work, not caring anymore. I wanted to know what Edward needed to tell me; would it be dangerous for both of us? Was I being transferred, perhaps? Gassed? I didn't dare think of anything else; I'd scare myself too much. Yet…I was already as scared as I'd ever been in my life.

I hadn't talked to my mom since she'd hit me. She hadn't tried apologizing, either, which hurt. Was she even sorry?

She decided to talk to me as we went back to the cabin that night from work. "Bella?" she asked as we walked in the pitch black.

I looked ahead of me.

"Bella, look at me."

I turned to her. "What do you want, Mom?"

"Bella, I'm so sorry I hit you the other day. I just got so upset about this whole thing. I didn't mean it; I wasn't thinking. I love you, Bella. And I would never hurt you."

"Okay, Mom, I'm not in the mood to talk today."

"Just talk to me soon, please."

"I forgive you, okay?"

"Thank you, honey."

She looked even more fragile than I did-losing weight more rapidly, looking thinner than ever. My mom was never the skinniest person ever, but now she seemed to be one of them. Everyone here was losing weight, myself included. But her change in appearance was very noticeable.

We got to the cabin late that day, 11:30. They'd forced us to work longer so that we could finish a certain part of the building. I decided to go straight to the side of the cabin outside once the soldiers were all gone. I'd sit and think for a bit until Edward would come.

As I sat in the cool breeze, I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up, expecting to see Edward.

Instead, another man stood in front of me, smirking. He was an average height, with his longer brown hair pulled back into a low ponytail. His face was menacing, intimidating…maybe that was because I knew who he was working for.

He was a soldier.

I looked up at him, horrified, expecting to be shot or something right there. I covered my face with my arms, preparing myself.

"Foolish kid," he said. I looked up at him again. "What are you doing out here?"

I stayed silent.

"Hello, Bella? Are you meeting Edward again?"

This was definitely the bad news Edward needed to tell me. I gulped.

"Um…" I trailed off. "I'm sorry I'm out here. I'll go." I stood, but then he grabbed my shoulder and pushed me so I hit the outside wall of the cabin.

"You're not leaving yet." He stated. "I told Edward this today, and now I am telling you. Edward is under my order now, he must do what I say in order for him and yourself to live. And as for you…" He gave me an evil smile. "You will work even longer than everyone else, half the time with the other people here, and half the time doing what I say."

I looked at him, terrified, wide-eyed.

"Got it?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." I said eventually.

"Good." He pushed me to the ground, and I looked up at him. I wouldn't dare stand up. "See you tomorrow, Bella." He said, chuckling as he left.

It was the same chuckle we'd heard yesterday.

_**Thanks everyone for reading!**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**_

_**To all who have reviewed or favorited or alerted the story, thank you so much! I'm sorry I didn't get to reply, but thank you!!! I really appreciate it.**_

~Bella

I stayed on the ground, crying. Where was Edward? Was he okay? Was it midnight? Would he still come?

I needed to talk to him, to see what we were going to do. We were now under blackmail, and there was no way out. We couldn't tell anyone, because that would get us deeper into trouble.

"Bella?" Edward cried, running over to me and grabbing me in his arms. I held onto his arms, letting myself cry.

"Edward," I said between cries, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"Getting you into this mess."

"It's not your fault, Bella. It's no one's."

"What are we going to do?"

He sighed. "I don't think we can do anything right now, besides listen to Aro. He is more powerful than I, and he knows that. I now know that."

"But…isn't there something we can do to stop him?"

"I don't think so, Bella. We can't keep trying to get out of this. It'll get us into even more trouble. If Aro gets annoyed with us at all, he'll get us both killed."

A shiver ran through my spine. "How do you not annoy him?"

"It's difficult not to annoy him. I just don't talk to him, most of the time, unless he says something or I have something I need to say."

"What is he going to make us do?"

"That's the worst part. I don't know."

~Edward

I felt so horrible, telling Bella I didn't know what Aro would make us do. I wished I could give her answers, rather than making her more worried.

"So…when should I go to the soldier's main building?" she asked, tears still in her eyes.

"When the sun is directly above you."

"Will you be there, Edward?"

"Possibly."

"Will we be able to speak?"

I shrugged. Knowing Aro, he'd make us go to the other ends of the camp, far away from each other. "Can't make any promises on that."

She sighed. "Can we still talk here?" she asked quietly, worried of what the answer might be. I wouldn't be able to stand it if we couldn't talk anymore. Bella was the only person I could talk to-she understood me, I understood her. It was like we met for a reason, to be able to feel better by talking.

"I hope so," I answered, hugging her again, "I really hope so."

*****

~Bella

I woke up from the shouting of soldiers, but I was not in the cabin. I was still outside, in Edward's arms! I was wide awake immediately, and I looked up at Edward, who was still asleep, his back against the wall.

"Edward! Wake up!" I said, and he sat up, awake.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We fell asleep!"

"Damn it! Come on, we have to go."

He helped me up, and I went to get to work, and he left to go see Aro. I'd wait until the sun was directly above me in the sky until I'd go see what Aro wanted.

Alice was back, working. I walked up to her as we all walked.

"Alice, you're back." I said.

She smiled weakly. "Yeah. Turns out I'm not contagious. So they made me work."

"But do you feel okay?"

She shook her head. "Not at all."

"Did you tell them?"

"No. They don't care, anyway."

We got to the grounds where we worked, where everyone was being separated.

"I'll see you later, Alice." I said. "Be careful you don't hurt yourself from being so sick while working."

"See you." She replied. I went over to my spot to begin working.

"Isabella Swan?!" some soldier called my name in the middle of the day. I looked up at the sky-the sun was where it was supposed to be in order for me to leave. I dropped the pieces of metal I held and walked over to him.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Aro wishes to see you." He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me toward the main building. I wasn't even trusted to walk there myself. Maybe they figured I'd run away, which was smart of them.

He practically threw me into the room, slamming the door behind me. I stood and saw Aro and Edward there, sitting at a long table. Aro looked less menacing in the daylight, but nonetheless scary.

"Isabella," Aro said, folding his hands together and smiling at me, "come in, come in. Sit."

Obediently I sat next to Edward. We looked at each other, and then glared back at Aro.

"I'm glad you're both here." Aro said. It wasn't like it was a surprise we were here. We had to. "So, now I will tell you what I want from each of you."

"Get on with it, Aro." Edward said angrily, his voice low.

"Edward, don't be rude to me. You know what'll happen, don't you?"

He stayed silent.

"Now, I'll start with you, Isabella-or Bella, whichever you prefer. What I want from you is…more work to be done from you than everyone else. It's what's fair, after what you've done. I'll be sure to have one of my friends get you in case I need anything from you. Understand?"

With clenched teeth, I nodded.

"And Edward," he said, smiling at him, "this one's my favorite decision. I'm sure you'll appreciate it, too."

Edward glared at him, waiting for what he was going to say.

"What do you want, Aro?" he asked, impatient.

"I can't stand seeing you here, after lying to all of us, Edward. So I want you to leave. To another camp. And I never want to see you here again."

*****

_**Sorry for such a short chapter…but hope you all liked the story! OH MY GOD Edward has to leave! Even I can't believe it…I know that's weird, but oh well. Anyway, review, alert, favorite, etc. if you liked it!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Sorry it took so long today to update…not a good day today. Anyway, I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. Enjoy the story.**_

_**Oh, and to those of you wondering, yes I did change the name of the story. sorry if any confusion took place when u saw a new story on ur list that u don't remember seeing before.**_

~Bella

Edward sat there, frozen. "…Why?" he finally asked.

"Why? You know why." Aro answered. "You lied to all the soldiers here. You're a traitor. I don't want to see you anymore; how could you even stand to look at yourself, Edward?" he asked rhetorically.

"That's not why. You just don't want me to be able to see Bella, right?" He stood and looked at Aro threateningly. "Right?!"

"Calm yourself, Edward. You don't want me to call in more soldiers, do you?"

Edward rolled his eyes and sat. "I can't leave." He said.

"I believe you can."

Edward looked up at Aro pleadingly. "Aro, please don't make me do this."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because I couldn't stand not seeing Bella ever again, not knowing what happened to her. I love her."

My eyes widened, and I looked at Edward. He loved me?

"Well, you shouldn't be starting romance while you're supposed to not like her." Aro said. "Boys? Come here, please!" he called out toward the doorway, and many soldiers came into the room, grabbing Edward and I.

"Goodbye, Edward." Aro said, smirking. "Hope you like the next camp you go to. As one of _them._"

"What?!" Edward asked, not expecting an answer. We were pulled away from each other, and I tried reaching my hand out for him.

"Edward!" I bawled, tears blinding me.

"Bella…I'll see you again, sometime. I promise!" He called, his voice quiet and calming. He and the soldiers holding him left the room, leaving one soldier holding me, and Aro.

I glared at him, and he just smiled.

"Thank you, Caius." Aro said to the other soldier.

"No problem," Caius said, pushing me to the ground so that I was kneeling in front of Aro. He held my arms back so I couldn't try hitting him, perhaps.

Aro shook his head. "Isabella Swan." He read from a piece of paper he held. "15 years old. From Germany. Mother, Renee, father, Charlie. Brother, Jonah. He is…five years old? Very young." He looked up at Caius and mouthed the words, "Why hasn't he been gassed?"

"You won't touch him!" I cried, knowing what they said.

"Maybe, maybe not." Aro said, looking back at the paper. "I should add this to your information: Tried to get a soldier to help her escape."

"I never told him to let me escape. I needed him to talk."

"Mhmm, okay. Also, I will add: Yells at authority, acts rude to them. And, to top it off: She and family tried hiding two adults. A man, Gerald, and a woman, Eve?"

I looked at him, bewildered. "What?"

"We found them in your backyard a few days after you got here. They're in another camp."

I shook my head in disbelief.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Isabella?" Aro asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"What do you have to say to redeem yourself from breaking all these rules?"

"Am I supposed to say sorry?"

"Yes."

I wasn't sorry.

"What if…I'm not sorry?"

"Then Caius can use his weapons against you."

I gulped. "Okay. I'm sorry, all right?"

"Good. Do you promise to behave from now on?"

The cries came, tears coming out of my eyes that had been waiting since Edward was officially gone.

"Do you?!"

"Yes, I promise!" I cried, now shutting my eyes as I sobbed.

"Good. Now, hmm…you can go work in the kitchen. Help some people cook dinner for us. Caius, please escort her."

"Yes, sir."

I was lifted off the ground and then standing on my feet, and was lead toward the kitchen doors, still crying my eyes out.

~Edward

I was on a train, with many other people being transferred for various reasons. I doubted anyone else here was a soldier.

I looked around at the sobbing people, either alone or clutching onto a family member. Some were new to the whole concentration camp thing, and some were from Auschwitz and wondering what was to come.

_I _wondered what was to come.

I saw a small boy and a man who looked familiar. Well, the little boy did. Where have I seen his face…? I wondered. He reminded me of something, someone.

"Daddy, where are we going?" the boy asked his father.

"I don't know, Jonah." The father said. "Let's just sit tight and we'll see later."

I knew the name from somewhere. I started to think.

The father eyed me suspiciously, looking at my uniform I wore. Obviously, I was a soldier.

"What, you have to spy on us?" he asked. "We can't get out, if that's what you want to know."

"No, no." I said. "I'm being transferred, too."

"You must've done something horrible."

I shrugged.

"Daddy, where's Mommy and Bella?" Jonah asked.

Bella.

"They're still in Auschwitz." The father said. "They're okay, Jonah."

"I miss them."

"Sir, did he just say Bella?" I asked.

He looked at me strangely. "Uh…yes. That is my daughter's name. Why?"

"Bella _Swan_?"

"Yes. How do you know? Oh, right-you're working for them."

"Not anymore."

"Then why must you know my daughter?"

"No reason. I just know someone named Bella."

He sighed and began talking to Jonah again.

"Where _are _we going?" I asked Mr. Swan.

"Warsaw, I believe."

Poland. We were going to Poland. First, I had to be in a different camp than Bella, and now in another country. "Oh." I said.

"Do you really know my daughter?" he asked skeptically after a minute.

I decided to just tell him everything, about meeting Bella and me not being like the rest of the soldiers. I told him that Aro had decided to black mail us, since we weren't in that camp anymore, so Mr. Swan couldn't tell anyone, anyway. I didn't think he would, either way.

"I can't believe my daughter could have trusted you." He muttered, somewhat angry. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand why she would. Does my wife know?"

"No one did, until Aro found out."

"And who do you think you are, just speaking to my daughter, thinking you were just an average person who hadn't done anything to her?"

"I am an average person."

"You hurt our family."

"Not me as an individual."

"But still, you are part of them."

"Look, it wasn't my choice to be here at all."

"Where? In this train? Of course it wasn't! Who's choice would that be?"

"It wasn't my choice to be a soldier."

"Daddy, why is there a soldier here?" Jonah asked.

"Later, Jonah." His father said. He sighed as Jonah pouted. "Sure, it wasn't your choice."

"It wasn't!"

"All right."

"I thought all of the Swans could be as understanding as Bella, but I guess not."

"You mean gullible."

"She isn't gullible. She knows how to judge people."

"She doesn't. Do you know who you are? Who do you even think you are?"

"Last time I checked my name, I was Edward Cullen."

He glared at me. "Please stop talking to me."

"As you wish."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the gun that was there. Mr. Swan looked at me like I was crazy.

"What, you're going to shoot me now?" he asked.

I threw the gun in between us, on the ground, to show I was getting rid of my weapons.

"That doesn't work on me," he said bluntly. I picked up the gun and put it back.

"All right, then." I said. "I'll keep it, just in case."

He looked at me suspiciously for a moment, and then looked away. I looked out the small window as fields passed by.

"You'd better watch yourself, kid." Mr. Swan warned. "Because if you try to hurt my son or myself, you're going to get it."

He felt brave now that I was not a soldier, wasn't he?.

_**Well, it didn't have a big ending like the last chapter…sorry if that disappointed you. Like I said before, not a very good day. I'll try to update tomorrow. Thanks everyone for reading.**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Sorry it took me awhile to update! But anyway, hope it's good! I do not own any Twilight characters, etc. from Stephenie Meyer.**_

~Bella

"What do you think you're doing?!" a woman yelled at me in the kitchen. I had been looking out the window while I was supposed to be cooking. I turned to her.

"Sorry," I said, taking two towels. I reached in the oven and took out the dinner, placing it on the counter to cool.

I couldn't help the feeling that something horrible was happening to Edward right now. I mean, of course him leaving and being transferred was all horrible, but it seemed that something like him being hurt right at that moment was happening.

_Edward, where are you?_

I put meals on different trays one at a time, carefully putting the right serving size on each. I had to do everything right, so Aro would spare me.

This was my life now. I didn't have a choice.

I brought the meals out at dinnertime. The soldiers were all in the same seats as last time I worked in the kitchen…except for Edward's empty seat. I gazed at the seat, losing focus on serving dinner.

"Isabella, I'm hungry." Aro said, who's seat was across from Edward's. "Instead of looking at Edward's unoccupied seat, how about you serve the dinner?"

I blinked, coming back to reality, and almost threw the tray at his table.

"You're welcome," I muttered as I walked away to the next table. I continued serving meals, looking back at Edward's table every so often. Why? I didn't know. I kept wondering about how he was, where he was…

He loved me, I realized. It hadn't really hit me until then. He was probably wondering if I felt the same way.

I cleaned some dishes, trying to get my mind off Edward. But, with every dish, every person walking past, I remembered something about Edward. Whether it was his eyes on a different person-although his eyes would always be the best ones I'd ever seen-or his smile in some new form. Even the night outside reminded me of talking to Edward, even though it was forbidden.

Forbidden. Out of the bounds of the rules, not allowed because of law. If I had followed the rules, I would of never have gotten to know Edward. If I had stayed in bounds, I wouldn't have ever been blackmailed…

I should have cared that I had broken so many rules, but I didn't. I was already in too much trouble…so why should I stop braking rules?

_A Few Days Later_

~Edward

We were in Warsaw, Poland, at the Warsaw concentration camp. I was thrown out of the train, and we were shouted at to keep moving. I now knew how Bella felt, being taken to a camp; before I was only able to imagine. We got to an area of small tents that looked as if they were about to collapse. We were assigned to different tents, me being with two other men. The women and men were separated from each other. One introduced himself as Emmett , and the other as Carlisle.

We were told work was to begin tomorrow. I knew we wouldn't be fed, and I didn't care at the moment. All I could think of was how Bella was. Was she okay? Did Aro hurt her? If I found out he did, I'd go back there and give him a piece of my mind.

"You're wearing a soldier's uniform." Carlisle noted. He was older than me, with light blonde hair. He eyed me suspiciously, like Mr. Swan had.

"Yes," I replied. "I broke some rules…so I have to stay here."

"What did you do?" Emmett asked. He was about my age, with short, dark hair and a big structure.

"It's a long story."

"So…you're _not _a shoulder." Emmett said.

"Right."

"Oh."

It was late, around the time I would've been talking to Bella next to her cabin. If I could hear her voice once more…

"We should get some sleep," Carlisle said to both of us. Without saying anything, I went to the small cot I was to sleep in. I stared up at the plain ceiling of the tent, trying to fall asleep.

I couldn't.

~Alice

"Alice? …Please don't give up."

"I need you here."

"You have to keep trying."

"For me? For Bella?"

"…For everyone?"

His voice rang in my head, and I fought to stay awake. Jasper was pleading for me not to give in to the unconsciousness waiting for me. I was too sick, I couldn't even sit up. I didn't want to die, though; I knew Jasper depended on me as a friend, and Bella felt the same way. If I gave up, they would both possibly be disappointed in me.

I breathed in deeply, trying to get all the oxygen I could in my lungs. I ended up coughing all of the oxygen out.

"Alice?" he asked again.

I reached my hand out and held his hand. Over the past days, Jasper and I had created a really good friendship, even in the bad conditions we were in. I didn't want to leave him, but we both knew it was a possibility.

He put his other hand on top of my hand, to show he knew I was still listening.

"Alice…if you do leave, I-"

"I'm not…leaving." I interrupted. "Not…yet."

"I'm just letting you know, Alice. If you need to let go…then you can. Don't worry about me."

Don't worry about him? He was one of my very best friends! Possibly my best friend, since Bella and I hadn't been talking too much. No, she still was my best friend, but so was he. I didn't want to give up on him.

"I am worried about you." I said weakly.

"Alice, you just have to choose what you think is best for you. If you need to, just rest for a bit. I'll give you a couple of hours to sleep, okay?"

I attempted to nod. He understood.

"Okay, I'll wake you up in a few hours." He paused, looking down at me full of concern.

I nodded and closed my eyes as I still held his hand.

_**Please review, favorite, alert, etc. Thanks!**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. **_

~Bella

I woke up the next morning to see Aro there, looking at me. I jumped, startled, and then was angry.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"_Someone's _not a morning person." He said. "You're supposed to be up now, remember?"

"Maybe. Why should I have to wake up earlier than everyone else?"

"Because everyone else hasn't done what you've done."

I sighed and got out of bed, walking past the other people who were still sleeping. We left the cabin.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked angrily.

"Nothing, really…" He answered.

"What is it, Aro?"

"Well…I need you to write a letter for me."

"To…?"

"To my good friend, Edward Cullen."

I could've sworn my eye twitched. "…What?"

"You'll see. Follow me." He started walking, and I followed behind. Why the hell would he want me to write a letter to Edward?

We went into the main room, and he made me sit in a chair next to his reserved one, the one with his name written on it. Was he serious? He pushed the chair all the way in, so I could barely breathe. I pushed the chair out once he was seated.

He slid a piece of paper and a pen in front of me. "Okay, Bella." He said, folding his hands together and resting his chin on them. "Write a letter to him."

"Saying…?"

"I'll tell you what to write. First, 'Dear Edward'."

_Dear Edward,_

"Now, write 'I have to tell you something, something I've never told you before'."

_I have to tell you something, something I've never told you before. _

This was not going to be good.

"Now, 'You know how when we first met, it seemed as if I understood you and wanted to help?'"

_You know how when we first met, it seemed as if I understood you and wanted to help?_

"'Well, I lied.'"

_Well, I-_

"I am _not _writing that." I said.

"Too bad. What I say, goes. Write it."

_lied. _

"'You're probably wondering what I mean by saying this.'"

_You're probably wondering what I mean by saying this._

"'But all along, I have been working for Aro.'"

"What?!"

"You heard."

"I can't do that! _That's _lying."

"I know. But he doesn't know."

"I won't."

"Yes, you will." He looked at me threateningly. "I have a gun with me, you know."

My eyes filled with tears as I wrote, _But all along, I have been working for Aro._

"'How, you may ask? I got all the secrets from you, and told him everything. I just pretended to be sad as you left. I knew his plan all along. You mean nothing to me.'"

Stifling the tears, I scribbled the lie down: _How, you may ask? I got all the secrets from you, and told him everything. I just pretended to be sad as you left. I knew his plan all along. You mean nothing to me._

He reread what I wrote, and nodded in contentment. "Only a couple more sentences." He said. "'Now, please don't reply to this letter. I am done talking with you. Goodbye, Edward.'"

_Now, please don't reply to this letter. I am done talking with you. Goodbye, Edward._

"Sign it," he told me.

_Bella Swan._

I couldn't hold the tears anymore; I began to sob, covering my eyes with my hands. He took the paper and put it in an envelope. He turned to me and pulled my hands from my eyes.

"It's okay, Bella." He said. "He probably never liked you, anyway. He _was _a soldier, after all. He was _trained _to not like you."

He was poisoning my mind; I knew it, yet I still caught myself believing him for a moment. I pried my hands back and stared at him.

"You don't know anything." I whispered.

"Don't I? I know that I should go send this letter now." He stood, and then looked back at me. "I'm going to lock the doors shut, so you can't leave. But, anyway, don't try anything." He smirked and then left, and I heard a big lock shut from the outside.

I wouldn't try anything. I didn't want to. I put my head on the table, and let out a scream. My head hurt from crying, my face was probably apple red, and my throat ached from sobbing.

The door unlocked soon later. I had to face him again.

_**Aro is sooooooooooo annoying! Omg! Even I'm like, what the hell?! At this. Anyway, review, favorite, alert. Thanks!**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. **_

~Edward

I sat down when I got back to the tent, exhausted from the day's work. No wonder why everyone else here had that dreary look in their eyes. Well, I couldn't blame them.

"What, first day in a camp? Well, being a worker in a camp?" Emmett asked, noticing my tiredness.

"Yes." I answered. "Isn't it yours, too?"

"Nope. I've been to camp after camp. Guess they don't know where I should stay."

"What about Carlisle?"

He looked at me sternly, and then looked around the tent. "Well, I don't know if he wants everyone to know."

"Is it bad?"

"Well, he didn't do anything bad. It is a bad thing that happened. And sad."

"Well, you can tell me. I have no one to tell, anyway."

"His, um, wife and kids were…um, killed recently…in the last camp we were in."

"Was it Auschwitz?" I swore, if it was Aro, I'd go back and beat the crap out of him. I wanted to beat the crap out of all of them, for everything they'd done. I deserved to be beaten up too, for even becoming a soldier, even if it was by force.

"No. We were just in the train from another camp when you must have come on."

"Oh."

"That's why he's been quiet. I knew him from awhile ago, and he used to talk more. Now, he's just silent."

"Well, he has good reason to."

Carlisle came into the room, and I couldn't help just looking at him.

He looked at Emmett, and then back at me. "You told him." He said to Emmett, sure of himself.

"Yes, Carlisle." Emmett said.

"I apologize." I said.

"Usually I don't get angry too easily." He said, sighing. "But those Nazis…you…my life is…"

"I get it. You hate me. You should." I said bitterly, looking down at the ground. "I hate myself. Even more than I could imagine."

He didn't disagree with hating me. "I'm going to bed." He said, lying down. "You two should as well."

"All right," Emmett said obediently. He seemed to act as a son to Carlisle, rather than just someone who had to share a room with him. Maybe Carlisle wanted that, to have another son.

I got into my bed and it was pitch black, the only sound being the wind going past the tent. I hadn't been able to sleep yesterday, but now I was tired. I'd carried about 800 pounds of metal back and forth, and my arms were aching. My legs ached from carrying me back and forth. I slowly drifted off to sleep, thinking of being able to meet Bella once more, soon.

~Alice

I was trapped in a dream. Was it a dream? I was on a field, the sky blue with no clouds. Trees surrounded me, but the sun still shone through. I kept walking and walking, but never found and end to wherever I was. Nothing seemed real, either. Light sounds of music or something played around me. This was not reality.

"Alice." My name was said. I looked around, but could not see anything. There was someone looking for me, but I kept walking farther away from it. If I just stayed right here, I figured, I'd find them. I stood there to wait for the person to call my name again.

"Alice," they said again. I turned, and I saw Jasper, standing there, holding a hand out to me. I knew what this meant now. If I took his hand, I'd go back to reality, where I was in the concentration camp, dieing. If I kept walking, I would go into the "next life". I wasn't even sure what happened after death, so I didn't know what to think. I didn't want to leave Jasper there, yet I didn't want to stay in that camp…

"Jasper, I-" I paused, not knowing what to tell him. I didn't even know if he could hear me. He probably couldn't. I was probably just in the sick cabin, asleep, lifeless. He was calling my name, though, that was for sure. He wanted me to wake up; he needed me there with him. But I didn't know if I could stand being in that camp.

Slowly, I reached for his hand, deciding I must try to stay for a little while longer. The fake Jasper in this unreal world smiled and began walking.

Suddenly, my eyes were open. I looked up at Jasper weakly. We were in the cabin in the camp. I'd done it. I'd survived for a little longer.

"Alice, you're okay." Jasper said, immediately lifting me up so I was sitting up, and holding me. "I thought I lost you."

"I'm all right, Jasper."

"I wish you were, Alice."

"I'll be fine as long as you're here."

He shook his head and sighed. "I wish that was the cure."

~Bella

"You didn't really send it." I said, doubting Aro's evil ways. "You're bluffing."

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. He should get it tomorrow."

It was late at night, and I had just finished clearing up the dinner dishes, and I was now in the main room, about to leave to go to sleep in my cabin. I needed to find out whether or not Aro really sent the letter.

"How could you, Aro?"

"What do you mean, how could I?"

"Are you really that mean? Do you really hate Edward and I that much?"

He put his hand to his chin, pretending to think. "Yes."

I glared at him and spun on both heels to leave.

"Isabella." He called. "Aren't you going to say goodbye?"

"Bye," I muttered, slamming the doors behind me as I stepped out into the cold night.

I was reminded of when I was walking back to my cabin on the first day that Edward talked to me. It'd been this cold outside, and we'd just said our names. We knew if was forbidden for us to talk at all, even just by saying our names, but we didn't care. Now, because of us meeting, we were in different countries, never supposed to see each other again.

I saw the small alleyway where we'd exchanged names, and I found myself walking there, rather than going to my cabin. I stood there for a minute, just looking at the plain walls. Underneath me was the ground, which was made of dirt, instead of there being a concrete floor like in some places here. I picked up a twig and carved into the ground:

_Edward Cullen + Bella Swan_

I looked at his name for a moment, remembering from the first time we met to the kiss that Edward Cullen decided to give. I looked at my name, but it seemed less important than his name. I didn't know why. But not anymore was it because of him being a soldier and me being Jewish. I was not a lesser person than he was, than any of them were. It didn't matter what they thought of us, as long as I knew Edward was out there somewhere, thinking of me, I didn't care.

I sighed and then left, knowing I had to be back at the cabin. But…I didn't want to go to sleep. I was not tired. Sure, my eyes had lines underneath them, showing my tiredness, and my legs felt like bricks from walking all day, but I didn't mind. I knew where I wanted to rest.

I sat on the ground, my back against the wall of the side of the cabin. This is where we'd sat for days, talking. We'd even fallen asleep here.

It was so cold outside, but I was soon to be numb. I wrapped my arms around my knees, and rested my chin on my knees. Eventually, I fell asleep, despite the cold night.

~Edward

"Trust us, Edward, we used to get a lot more work at our old camp than here." Emmett said as we walked back to the tent after working. It was still daylight outside, but the sun was soon to fall into the horizon. On my bed, there was an envelope, laying on the pillow. Wondering what it was, I picked it up and read it.

_Dear Edward,_

_I have to tell you something, something I've never told you before. You know how when we first met, it seemed as if I understood you and wanted to help? Well, I lied. You're probably wondering what I mean by saying this. But all along, I have been working with Aro. How, you may ask? I got all the secrets from you, and told him everything. I just pretended to be sad as you left. I knew his plan all along. You mean nothing to me._

_Now, please don't reply to this letter. I am done talking with you. Goodbye, Edward._

_Bella Swan_

I gripped the letter angrily, close to ripping the paper in half. She was working for Aro?! I couldn't believe it! She'd acted so kind to me, and she always wanted to talk to me.

_That's _why she wanted to talk to me! To get answers!

Was this what I got for trusting her? I'd just been slapped in the face from miles away, and this would leave a scar.

Everything going on in my life would leave a scar, wouldn't it?


	17. Chapter 17

_**Don't own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**_

_**Ok so in the last chapter I made a few mistakes, like writing "and" instead of "an", or something like that. **_

~Bella

I was not going to do absolutely nothing and let Edward believe that letter. I would not waste time as I sat there, outside the cabin, unable to sleep. I looked to my right and left, and then stood. The camp was silent, and pitch black besides the few lights high above me. It was about three in the morning, I guessed.

I went toward the main building, making sure no one was there first. The door was unlocked-Aro was too concerned with being the master of this camp that he must've forgotten-so I quietly went into the room. It was cold and silent, even as I shuffled my feet across the floor. I looked along the table for paper and a pen, now that my eyes were adjusted to the dark. I saw a stack of envelopes, so I took one. Each had the location of this camp already written by hand, so I didn't need to find that out, at least. I scanned the table for paper…there were a couple of crumpled up papers in the garbage bin, so I figured I'd have to write on them. Now, a pen…

_Aro's "desk", _I thought. Where Aro had his seat assigned to him, he had writing utensils, notes, etc. I went over to his seat, and took the first pen I saw.

"What the hell is that noise?" A voice, Aro's voice, asked. A light was put on in the next room, and I dashed toward the door. I made it out just in time, hopefully he hadn't seen me. I continued running until I was finally back at the cabin. Since Aro could possibly be on his way over here, I decided to go into the cabin. I lie in bed, and tried my best to see the paper in front of me so I could write.

_Edward, this is Bella. This is actually me writing! Aro made me write that last letter, none of it was true! I was not working for him; I never would. And you don't mean nothing to me-you mean so much to me! Please, Edward, you have to believe me! I know you will. You shouldn't write back…Aro is able to get the mail, most likely. The only reason I'm able to write is that I took the paper and pen from the main building at 3 in the morning. _

_I might as well say something to you now. Before, when you were here, you said that you loved me. I was so surprised at that, and I wondered whether I felt the same way. And now, writing this, I know. I love you, Edward. We can't give up. I know somehow, somewhere, we will meet up again. I just wanted to tell you that. _

_I'll see you soon._

_Bella_

Where was the mail box around here? I thought about where they could've hidden it. It was probably by the front gates of the camp, where we were when the train came here. I tried to remember the first day here; was there a mail box?

_Yes, there was._ I remembered. It was right…at the guarded gate.

Was it guarded at 3 in the morning? Most likely, because they didn't trust any of us, even the ones who were too afraid even to say a word anymore. They didn't realize how truly petrified everyone was.

Well, maybe they did, but they didn't have mercy for us.

I got out of bed, trying to be quiet and careful not to wake anybody. I was now wide awake, not planning on going to sleep at all then. I needed to see if the gate and mail box were guarded.

I tip-toed barefoot across the cold ground, making sure not to step on any rocks, to prevent any noise at all. And, I didn't need to make noise by screaming in pain because of stepping on a rock.

I hid behind a building, squinting at the gate. It looked to be unoccupied, but you could never be sure. As I got closer to the gate, there I saw something installed into the brick wall. It was a rectangle, and had a slot in the middle. On the top, it read: MAIL. I was in luck! Hopefully they didn't read every single letter going out.

I ran across the open ground and stood in front of the mail box. I peered inside the slot where the mail was to be dropped, but couldn't see anything but darkness. I took my chances by dropping the letter in. I looked around me in case anyone was watching, and ran away, back toward the cabin.

I went back to the side of the cabin, knowing I would not be getting any sleep. It was probably already four; I'd be supposed to be waking up any time soon. So, why even bother sleeping? I'd be tired all the time from now on.

I sat there and watched as the sun slowly rose, hour after hour.

~Edward

I read the letter again for the thousandth time. Was this actually real? I didn't even know if I believed it. But, what proof did I have that it was or wasn't?

"What is that?" Emmett asked. "You've been staring at that piece of paper forever."

"It's a letter," I said. "From…Bella."

I'd told them about Bella before. They knew why I was here now.

"And? What does it say?"

I continued to stare at the letter. He grabbed the letter from me and began to read it. I didn't try to stop him from reading it.

"What?! This isn't right," he said, giving the letter back to me. "There's something wrong about that letter."

I shrugged.

"What is it?" Carlisle asked. Emmett took the letter again and gave it to Carlisle. He read the letter thoroughly, squinting.

"Is this really how she talked all the time?" he asked after studying the letter.

"What do you mean?"

"She talks so…hmm…like know-it-all, somehow. I don't know."

I took the letter and read it again. What he said did make some sense. _How, you may ask? _That wasn't something she'd ever say. Well, not the Bella that I knew, that is. _You're probably wondering what I mean by saying this. _This was not the Bella who I'd talked to and known!

"You may be right," I decided. "I'll have to read this again later, after working."

They both nodded in agreement, and we left to go work.

~Alice

"Alice, guess who I found?" Jasper practically ran into the cabin. Of course, he didn't feel strong enough these days to run. He stood in front of me, and I opened my eyes to see.

"Who?" I asked.

Someone came into the cabin, and I tried sitting up to see who it was. As they came closer into view, I noticed who it was joyfully.

"Mom!" I said, almost sobbing in joy. My mom ran over to me and hugged me the most she'd ever hugged me in my life. She was crying, holding my face in her hands and smiling at me.

"Alice, it's okay. It's okay." She said, hugging me again.

"What…are you doing here?"

"Your father and I were found in hiding."

"Where's Dad?"

She looked down, and then back at me. "He's in a different camp, honey."

I blinked a few times, taking in the fact I couldn't see my father, and then looked back at her. "Oh," I said.

"And I'm supposed to be transferred soon."

"You can't go, Mom!"

"I have to, Alice." She was no longer crying from happiness-now, they were tears of sorrow. "I'm so sorry," she added. "I don't want to leave you here, especially like this."

"Do they even know I'm this sick?"

"I pray they don't."

"Is it because otherwise, they'd…"

My mom buried her face in her hands.

"Mom, I know what they'd do if they knew. Maybe…"

"Don't maybe anything! They should not do what they want to do! I swear, Alice, if they try to- If they try to hurt you, hit them and kick them as much as possible."

"Because there's nothing to lose if they've gone that far," I muttered, not sure if I agreed with it.

"You have to try, Alice. Do you promise you will?"

"Yes, Mom."

"And try not to leave this nice boy, since I won't be here."

I looked up at Jasper, who was pacing around the room, trying not to be in our sad conversation.

"I'll try," I said to my mom.

She kissed my forehead. "You have a fever," she told me, standing up. "Get some rest, Alice." She kissed my forehead once more, tears in her eyes. "I have to go now, Alice. Maybe…I'll see you…in a little while."

I looked up at her, tears in my eyes as well. "Bye, Mom." I said quietly. She left, running back to where she was supposed to be.

"Where is she going?" I asked Jasper.

He sat next to me, staring into my eyes.

"I know you know, Jasper."

"She's being transferred. Today." He said.

"That's what she meant by being transferred _soon_?"

"She didn't want to make you even more worried."

"How did you even find her?"

"I was finishing up working, and she saw me coming here. She asked me if I knew you, and I told her yes, to come here and talk to you."

"Thanks, Jasper. I'm glad I got to talk to her at least once more."

He nodded.

"Have they noticed that I haven't been working?"

"They know." He said grimly. "I heard them talking about you. They're waiting to see if you'll get better."

"Then I better."

"Don't rush it."

"I have to. For my mom."

He nodded in understanding.

"And for you," I added.

~Edward

I studied the letter, thinking of what was wrong with it that night while everyone was sleeping. I squinted at the paper, reading each word carefully. I didn't know her handwriting, but it did look like a girls'. But the wording was not what she would say…they weren't her words talking to me.

But then, who's were they? I thought and thought, knowing the answer was right in front of me.

Who talked so properly, so much like that? The way everything was worded made her sound like she knew all.

It hit me. I did know a know-it-all.

How could I have been so foolish as to not know this sooner? The answer was obvious! This was not Bella who had written this letter to me! It was all a lie, the work of a liar!

And that liar…it was Aro.

_**Thanks everyone!**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**_

_**I had half of this chapter written, but then it got deleted, so here it is, rewritten. **_

**~Bella**

"It's time to wake up, Bella!" Aro cried cheerfully, probably thinking he was the greatest person on Earth. That would make anyone like him overconfident. I must had fallen asleep while watching the sun slowly rise. I rubbed my eyes and looked up at him, actually in a good mood. My letter would be delivered to Edward soon. They'd think the letter was from Aro again, so they would deliver it to Edward, not thinking twice about it. No, Edward would not be able to respond, but at least he would know that I'd never worked for Aro.

"Sorry I don't wake up early automatically," I said, yawning.

"You should be used to it by now. Why are you so happy?"

"No reason. Am I not supposed to be in a good mood ever?"

He didn't answer. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. "Come on," he said. "We must begin work"

"And what is it we must do today?" I asked. For some reason, I did not feel angry toward him today. I guess I was feeling grateful for the chance to talk to Edward again, even if only by mail. But, it counted for something.

"Sorting," he replied.

"Sorting what?"

"Letters, of course." He looked straight ahead as we walked. I gulped as we entered the main building. Caius sat at one end of the table, going through some papers. He looked up and smirked at both of us. I looked at him blankly, and then sat next to Aro at the other end of the table.

"These are all the letters being sent out from here," he explained, sliding a stack of envelopes in front of me. "We have to read through all of them, in case any tricksters try communicating with others. And that means people like you," he looked at me, and then grinned. "Tell me, Bella, by any chance have you seen anyone go near the mail box over the past few days?"

"Nope. Never saw anyone." I lied. Did seeing myself go to the mail box count?

"Good."

The first letter I read concerned the food to be given to the Jewish people. It was being sent somewhere in Poland; I couldn't pronounce the name of the place. It looked like we were to be fed less. My stomach growled at the thought of food; when was the last time I'd eaten?

A day ago, I remembered, thinking of the bread and water I'd been given. What I would give for water right now.

I continued through the pile of letters, and so did Aro. We sat in silence, and I was about to freak out. My letter was somewhere in there! I prayed it was in my pile, so I could take it and hide it. If it was in his pile…

There it was: An envelope with the name _Edward Cullen _written on it in my handwriting. I took it and held it in one hand in an attempt to hide it. I casually tried to keep reading through letters using the other hand that wasn't holding the letter.

"What was that?" he asked, looking at me.

"What was what?" I asked innocently.

"You're holding something. What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Was it a letter?"

"No."

"Let me see, then."

Slowly, I put my hand with the letter behind my back. He grabbed that arm and tried pulling the letter from my hand. It was like a game of tug-of-war.

Of course, in tug-of-war, the stronger person wins. Aro won. I fell backwards from the sudden loss of the letter. The chair slid across the floor, and I sat on the ground, looking at him in terror.

He was smiling, surprisingly, as he looked at the front of the envelope. He looked up at Caius.

"Caius, could you please leave for a moment?" he asked kindly.

"Yes, Aro." Caius replied. He looked at me, and then left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Aro looked back down at the letter and ripped the envelope open. As he read it, his smirk turned into a frown and steam almost came out of his ears. The letter shook in his hands. He looked at me.

"What is this?!" he screamed, throwing the letter somewhere. His voice echoed across the room. He began walking toward me, and I backed up until I was sitting with my back against the wall. I looked up at him, expecting for him to kill me right there.

"Not once have I told you, not twice! Probably a million times I have told you to stop trying to get out of here and to not break rules! And you _lied_!"

"You lied, too!" I replied in an attempt to get out of the grave danger I was in.

"Stand up!" he ordered. I stood right away.

He pulled a large gun out. I expected this to be the end. I closed my eyes, preparing for a shot…

But it didn't come. Instead, a ton of force was brought to my stomach. He'd swung the other end of the gun at me, plunging it into my stomach; well, enough to hurt a lot, anyway. I slid slowly to the ground, clutching my stomach.

"You're lucky I don't kill you right now." He hissed. "We have guards watching the gates all the time, you know. We don't just go to sleep and leave them at night. I asked you if anyone went. And _you _did."

I just looked at him, still holding my stomach.

Was he actually going to spare me?

He walked over to where the letter lay on the ground, and he picked it up. He walked back over to me. He ripped the letter into small pieces, letting them fall on me like snow. I just looked down.

"I'll decide on your punishment." He said.

And, after one final kick to the stomach, he left the room, locking me inside.

He was right to. I probably would've ran.

**~Edward**

"So it wasn't her!" I said to Emmett as we walked through the camp. It had been a long day, and my legs were bruised from being hit. The soldiers didn't think we were working enough, so as we carried heavy stuff from place to place, they whipped everyone.

"Are you going to write back?" Emmett asked.

"Are you crazy? _They _read the mail. Not the Jewish people."

"Well, what if you write in a different handwriting and pretend you are a soldier on the front of the envelope? So the soldiers there will think it's something from the soldiers here?"

I thought about that. That's what had happened in order for me to get mail. Aro had sent them a special message, so they knew to give the letter "from Bella" to me.

"That might work," I said.

"Don't get caught up thinking about that girl," Carlisle said. "It might end up killing you."

"Oh, Carlisle, let him try to get her." Emmett argued.

"What do you mean?" I asked Carlisle.

"You have to save yourself here, before you can think about her. This is a matter of life and death-not just getting that girl."

"I need her, Carlisle. You don't understand."

"Oh, trust me, I do understand."

We remained silent as we went to do more work. Perhaps Carlisle was right-I had to focus on living here before I'd be able to see Bella again. I couldn't just be focusing on writing letters to her. I couldn't forget where I was, why I was here.

But I decided I didn't want to be doing what Carlisle said. I'd respond to Bella's letter, no matter what it took.

_**Thanks everyone for reviews, favorites, etc.!**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**_

**~Bella**

The room became dark and cold as night fell. The lights had been shut off already during the day, and I didn't know where to turn on the power. I remained sitting, shivering.

The day's events played again and again in my head. I could've been so much smarter. I could've hidden the letter better. I could've…

I didn't know what else I could've done. All I knew was, Aro was possibly going to kill me as punishment.

Oh, why hadn't I just followed the rules, and waited for possible liberation to come? Why did I just have to risk my life like that?

He was going to kill me. He must've hated me so much now, that he couldn't stand seeing me anymore.

But at least I tried. I tried to talk to Edward again, to apologize for seeming to be a bad person in that letter. He wouldn't know that it was Aro, but I still tried. And as long as I tried, it was okay.

I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come. Once it was morning, Aro would come back…

I dreamt once after a long time of not dreaming at all. My sleep had been dark and blank for most of the time I'd been here, but I actually dreamt. It was when I first saw Edward, the first words he said to me, the first time he smiled at me. His smile, his laugh, his eyes. I could remember his face so clearly, it was like there was a picture in my mind, stuck there.

I slept soundly, despite the rain storm going on outside.

**~Edward**

_Dear Bella,_

_I know you do not mean all that stuff you said in that letter. I was able to tell those weren't your words, they were Aro's. Don't worry about my feelings being crushed by the letter; I will not believe it. _

_I have been working a lot here. I'm guessing you have, too, having to deal with Aro. Has he hurt you in any way? If he has, I'll come back there and teach him a lesson._

_Your brother and father are here, I saw them on the train. I don't think your father likes me much. He was questioning me about being a soldier. I can't blame him. _

_I came up with an idea earlier today, at about one in the morning. Right now it's about two. Bella, I'm coming back there. I don't know how, I don't know when, but I'm coming back. Soon. And I'm going to find you there. And we're going to be together. And Aro will be out of our lives. As for the rest of your family and Alice…they can come. If you want them to. I would assume you would, of course. Wait there for me, Bella--I'm on my way, while you're working, while you're being annoyed by Aro, I'm coming there to save you. _

_I know liberation will come. Someday, somehow, someone will come to help all of us. Be strong for now, because I am coming._

_Love,_

_Edward_

I reread the letter, and then put it in an envelope, the same one that held the letter from Bella. I rewrote the addresses and mailing codes so that it would be sent to the right place, to the right person. This was risky, very risky-but it had worked for when Bella sent a letter, I just had to be careful. I wrote the name of a soldier on the front. Today, a soldier had been called by his name, and I'd overheard that name. I wrote on the front, that name and _Bella Swan_, to be clear that this letter was for Bella and only Bella.

I sealed the envelope shut, and put it next to me as I lie in bed, about to drift off to sleep.

**~Alice**

"I don't want to be here, Jasper." I said quietly. "I really, really don't."

Saying this to him was one of the most difficult things I'd ever had to say in my life. I did not want to keep fighting this illness-whatever it was. I may have been giving up…but I was so tired. I was so sick.

"Alice, you have to." He argued. "What about your mom?"

"I said I'd try to stay. She'd understand if I absolutely couldn't. And I can't."

"You can. And I can help you. I can go find medicine…I'll steal it from the soldiers, or-"

I put my hand up to his mouth to make him stop talking. "No." I said simply.

"But, Alice-there's so much you have to live for."

"Really? Like, what? Getting sicker and watching as everyone here is worked to death?"

"Once liberation comes-"

"It's not coming, Jasper!" I cried. I'd once been a cheerful, optimistic person, but now my whole self seemed to be becoming a new one.

"It will, if we just wait a little bit longer."

"That's what everyone always says. 'We must wait a little longer'. It's been so long that I've been terrified to say anything to anyone except for you or Bella!"

"Alice…I'm sorry I'm upsetting you. I just…don't want you to go."

I tried to give him a small smile, but couldn't. "It'll be okay." I said. "If I go, it'll bring me to a better place, where I won't be sick. I love you, okay, Jasper? You're a great guy, and I hope you will find someone as great as you when you get out of here."

"Don't say that."

"I have to. Just in case."

I closed my eyes, needing rest. Unless…the illness would take me that moment. Would it?

**~Bella**

"Worthless child." I heard someone mutter. There was someone else in the room. I opened my eyes and saw Aro walking around, grabbing papers and such. He looked at me, and sneered. "Oh, look-you're awake." He put everything on the table, and walked over to me.

I didn't say anything-I was preparing myself for him to kill me. Surely, he'd want to-wouldn't he?

I took a deep breath and looked into his cold eyes. There was no emotion hidden showing in his eyes.

"Isabella," he said, "you've been a very annoying kid ever since you got here."

_I'm not a kid, _I would say, but I was too busy fearing for my life.

"Why is it you have to act out?"

I didn't say anything.

"What, lost your voice?"

Silence.

"Say something, Bella."

"Aro-"

"That's all I needed to hear. My name." He smiled slightly, as if his name were the greatest in the world. "Don't you want to know what you're going to do to repay for what you've done?"

"You're going to kill me," I muttered. He seemed to have heard me.

"Kill you?" he tried acting appalled. "No, no. I'm not going to kill you."

"What, then?"

"Well…since you don't seem to be willing to be a Jewish person living here…how about you become a soldier, and work for me even more?"

I almost threw up at the smirk on his face, and the idea he had just told me.

_**Thanks to all who have reviewed, favorited or alerted! What does everyone think is gonna happen??? I already have the main idea of it, but I just wanted to know what everyone was thinking. Thanks again for reading!**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**I don't own any of Stepehenie Meyer's Twilight characters. **_

_**Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days. I was busy this weekend…with the week coming, I'll probably update more.**_

**~Edward**

I woke up the next day at the sound of the whistles. I got out of bed, taking the letter with me outside, so I could mail it when no one was watching me…if that would happen. Emmett and Carlisle were already gone when I woke up. I guessed they were more used to being in a camp and waking up right away than I was.

It was a cold day, but no one had a coat. Those were taken away from everyone when we got here.

There was the mail box, I noticed it as I walked. It was close to my tent, so I could easily mail it now. I looked to my right and left, and then in front of me and behind me. There was no one there, so I walked over to it and dropped Bella's letter into the box. I walked away, and with the rest of the group went to go to work.

**Bella**

This was not happening. None of it was. It was all a dream, a nightmare. I was at home right now, sleeping. I would wake up soon, and go eat breakfast, and then play with Jonah. Also, I'd go to school with Alice, Rosalie, and everyone else. It would all be normal, as it always had been. This war was not happening. It was 19 forty…forty what? I didn't even know the year anymore.

But, this wasn't a dream, not even a nightmare. I'd just been told I was to become one of _them_, a soldier that would torture the Jewish people. I was Jewish. This didn't make sense. Didn't they know I'd be against them?

"Bella? Did you hear me?" Aro asked, a glimpse of a smile in his expression. I looked up at him angrily.

"Of course I heard you." I muttered.

"Then why aren't you speaking?"

"Why do you think?"

"Because you're so thrilled to be a soldier, correct?"

I clenched my teeth together.

Me being a soldier was more than just turning against all the other Jewish people. I'd have to _kill _some if I was ordered to. What if, say, my mom was to be killed, and I was ordered to do it? I would never do it. I'd rather them kill me instead.

"Hello, Bella?"

"Shut up." I said quietly.

"I will not shut up. I'm your leader."

"I don't want to be a soldier."

"Ah, Bella-that's what Edward said at first when he was told to become a soldier. He ended up being one, though."

"That's because you took him away from his home."

"He told you? You two know a lot about each other."

I glared at him.

"Anyway, well, that's how it will be for you, too. Except, you're already here."

"And what if I say no?"

"Then…you die."

I remained silent as more soldiers came into the room, making a circle around us.

Aro crossed his arms. "Bella, you can either say yes, or you could die. There are many gas chambers here. And we each have a gun with us. Now."

I looked around at each of the blank looks on the soldier's faces. Did they really hate the Jewish this much? Was their "hatred" real? Maybe, they were all like Edward-maybe they were forced to do this.

Yet again…maybe they weren't.

"Everyone," I said, "do you really hate me that much? Do you really think the Jewish should all die?" I looked at them again. "Why are you all here? Because you chose to be-or because you were forced to?"

They were silent.

"Be quiet," Aro told me, but I wouldn't listen.

"What is it that makes us so much different? Because we believe in something else? Then don't talk to us. You make us live here with you, so we're constantly in your presence. If we weren't here and were living at home, you wouldn't have to associate with us. So, why do you all do this?" I looked at each soldier individually, all except for Aro. "If you hate me…why would you want me working for you?"

"That's enough!" Aro exclaimed, the noise echoing through the room. "You!"-he pointed at me- "shut up before you get yourself in huge trouble!" He cleared his throat after a minute, and then tried speaking casually. "And so, Bella, you'll be staying in these cabins from now on. Go get your stuff-if you have any." He chuckled as the other soldiers left the room.

_**Thanks everyone for reading! Sorry for the short chapter, and for not updating the past few days! I'll try to keep up with the writing!**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**I am so sorry for the short chapters that the last few chapters have been. I have been busy lately…if I had more time, I'd make the chapters longer. But, I plan to keep writing, there may just be more chapters than planned. Anyway, I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. **_

_**And I changed the character point of views to the center of the page, but…you probably figured that out already.**_

***A few days later***

**~Bella~**

"A letter came in for you," some soldier said to me, handing me a white envelope. I wondered who'd be sending me mail. I read the return address, and it was a Polish name I could not pronounce. Who was this?

I put the envelope in my pocket, deciding to open it later. For now, I had to do my job as being a soldier. It had been a couple of days, and being a soldier did not become any better. I'd seen my mom a few times; she gave me the strangest look, as if to ask: "Why the hell are you wearing one of their uniforms?" I tried to talk to her, but then she'd had to go each time. Today, I was going to explain to her.

I followed Caius and Felix outside. Aro was apparently too good for work; he stayed behind in the main building and by the soldiers' cabins, probably staring at himself in the mirror. Both Caius and Felix decided to ignore me, rather than trying to talk to me.

Who was I kidding, why would they want to know me, knowing who I was? I didn't want to know them, either, anyway.

I saw my mom walking with everyone else. She did not look well at all. She walked like the others, slowly and tiredly. I was behind Caius and Felix, so I easily got away from them and caught up with my mom.

She wouldn't even look at me when I tapped her shoulder.

"Mom," I said, "I know you're probably wondering why I'm wearing this uniform, but it's a long story."

"My own daughter--a soldier." She said quietly. It was the first time I'd heard her speak in such a long time.

"Not by choice, Mom. They made me."

"Why did they make you, out of all the other people?" she finally turned to me. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, and dirt covered her face.

"I broke some rules," I explained. "They said either I become a soldier, or die."

"What did you do?"

I was silent for a minute.

"Hey, come back here!" Caius ordered. I turned quickly, and then started walking away.

"I fell in love with soldier!" I finally admitted as Caius pulled my arm. My mom's face went completely blank in disbelief. I looked at her, trying to say, "I'm sorry for everything," with my expression, but it didn't seem to work. She shook her head, tears in her eyes.

"Why?!" she screamed, crying. I had never heard her yell so loudly. "Why did you?!"

"I'm sorry, Mom! I'm sorry I broke too many rules!" I cried as well. Felix went over to my mom. He pushed her away from me, and toward the group of people working. She looked at me one more time, tears streaming down her face.

Caius and Felix walked on either side of me, making sure I couldn't walk away. I crossed my arms, trying to not freeze from the cold. Even with this uniform I felt like I was sitting on ice. I looked down at the barren ground, thinking of what else I could say to my mom.

"Always trying to run away," Caius said. I looked up and ahead of me. "That was your mother?"

"No," I replied.

"Oh, right, it was your imaginary friend? No."

"Yes, she's my mother."

"And what is her name?"

"Renee." I muttered.

"Oh, Renee Swan."

_Duh, _I thought.

He didn't say anything else, thankfully. Now, I had to watch as my own mother worked for hours on end, and I couldn't do anything.

Me being a soldier didn't require much extra work, actually. I had to watch everyone else work, though. I realized that was Aro's plan when he told me to become a soldier. He knew it would hurt me even more to have to watch the people I loved work for long hours. He knew I'd feel horrible. And he was right.

"Whatcha doing?" Aro asked, trying to be funny, as I walked through the main room to go to the cabin I was now living in. I walked past him, looking ahead and ignoring him. "Right, ignoring me."

I didn't say anything, and I closed the door of the large cabin behind me, leaning my back against the closed door. I held the envelope in my hands, staring at it. Once I decided that Aro would not come here, I went to my bed and lie down. I opened the envelope carefully, so I would not rip it too much.

_Dear Bella,_

_I know you do not mean all that stuff you said in that letter. I was able to tell those weren't your words, they were Aro's. Don't worry about my feelings being crushed by the letter; I will not believe it. _

_I have been working a lot here. I'm guessing you have, too, having to deal with Aro. Has he hurt you in any way? If he has, I'll come back there and teach him a lesson._

_Your brother and father are here, I saw them on the train. I don't think your father likes me much. He was questioning me about being a soldier. I can't blame him. _

_I came up with an idea earlier today, at about one in the morning. Right now it's about two. Bella, I'm coming back there. I don't know how, I don't know when, but I'm coming back. Soon. And I'm going to find you there. And we're going to be together. And Aro will be out of our lives. As for the rest of your family and Alice…they can come. If you want them to. I would assume you would, of course. Wait there for me, Bella--I'm on my way, while you're working, while you're being annoyed by Aro, I'm coming there to save you. _

_I know liberation will come. Someday, somehow, someone will come to help all of us. Be strong for now, because I am coming._

_Love,_

_Edward_

Edward. It was Edward.

**~Edward~**

December 27th, 1944. That was the date. It seemed as if each day went as slow as a year, at least when Bella was not around. Had she gotten the mail? Was it even sent?

Work was becoming just some horrible routine to me; not so much tragedy, but annoying. Emmett had been asking me a lot of questions about being a soldier and stuff lately, and Carlisle was quiet, like Emmett had told me he would be. Emmett wanted to know what it was like being a soldier, if I at any point liked being a Nazi, and other questions like that. All my answers had something to do with hating being a soldier.

Being one of the Jewish people at time was not exactly better because of the torture and treatment, but at least I didn't have to feel like the cause of everyone's pain by watching them work. That was one of the number one reasons why I hated being a soldier in the first place.

"Good evening, Edward." Carlisle greeted me when he walked into the cabin. Carlisle always talked like that; in a proper, kind way.

"Hi, Carlisle." I answered more informally. He knew that I wasn't exactly like him, so I don't think he minded. "How are you?" I added.

"Could be better. All of us could."

"Yeah."

The conversation always ended like that, every day. One of us would ask the other how they were, and the other would say "Yeah," agreeing with what the other person just said. Then, we remained silent, with nothing else to say.

Today was different.

"Did you really send that letter to that girl?" he asked.

"Yes, he did." Emmett said, entering the room. He was always in some good mood. He talked as if he were in one, anyway.

"Oh."

"Why?" I asked.

"Just wondering."

Those were the only other words I'd hear from Carlisle for the rest of the day. Yeah, not much of a chatterbox.

**~Alice~**

Darkness. Empty. Blank.

I was searching for anything, anyone, anywhere. If anyone was here, I needed to find out what was going on. At first, I was in a dark tunnel, running away from something. Maybe it was fear.

I saw some light at the end, and then I was in a splash of color and life. I looked around at the mysterious land. It was kind of like the surroundings of the last time this happened, with the cloudless sky and the trees.

A waterfall and lake was in front of me, with birds around singing their happy song, and flowers in full bloom. I walked closer to it looking in amazement of what was around me.

"Alice, dear." A voice said from behind me. I turned. Someone else was here.

There, my mother and father stood together, both holding their arms out to me. They both smiled, welcoming me here with them.

"Mom! Dad!" I cried, and I bolted into a run through the field to reach my parents.

**~Bella~**

He sent me a letter. He knew. And I didn't even have to try to send that letter to him.

I reread the letter, not believing what I saw. He was coming to get me, he'd said. He was on his way.

Jonah and my dad were there, wherever he was. No wonder I hadn't seen them. I hadn't expected to see them if they were here, anyway. I'd only seen them once here.

I worried for little Jonah, now somewhere new, and without his mother. He had my dad to help him there, though, which was fortunate. My mom probably had no idea that they were gone. I didn't want to tell her, to make her even sadder.

So right now, as I read this letter again, Edward was coming to save me (as well as my mom and Alice). I smiled at the thought of being able to escape.

I was able to fall asleep then, without any nightmares haunting me.

**~Edward~**

There wasn't anything I needed to pack, since everything I ever held important to me was gone, either left at home or taken away by Aro. It was the middle of the night, and I decided now was the right time to get ready to escape, since no one was awake, obviously. Emmett had decided to wake up early as well, for whatever reason. I didn't ask, though.

"So, you're really going to escape?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied, putting some leftover water in a small bag I'd found. I needed all the food and water I could get in order to survive whatever journey I took. How I would get to Germany, I didn't know. "Do you have any ideas how to get there?"

"Take the train." He suggested.

I raised an eyebrow.

"The Jewish train. Find which train is transporting them to that camp, and get on the train as if you're being transported as well. They'll believe you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at what you're wearing."

I remembered the identical outfit I was wearing to the other Jewish people.

"Right." I said.

Emmett patted my back. "Good luck, Edward, wherever you go." He smiled. "And tell Bella good luck, too."

_**That chapter was a little longer than the others. Well, thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, or alerted! **_


	22. Chapter 22

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. **_

**Bella**

I woke up the next morning feeling more awake than ever. The sun was bright, peaking through the clouds and through the small window. It was a nice day. I was _so _turning into an optimist…surprisingly. I got out of bed and looked in the small mirror in the room; my hair was sticking up, frizzed. I smoothed my brown hair down, trying to make it look normal. I left the cabin and went out to the main room. Aro sat at the head of the long table, reading something and eating breakfast.

He looked up at me. "I was about to wake you up." He said blankly.

_Don't say anything bad, _I reminded myself. Edward was coming soon, I had to remember.

"Good morning, Aro." I said, trying to smile at him. He looked at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Um…" He trailed off.

"Can I have something to eat?"

"I don't know; _can _you?"

"May I?"

"May you what?"

"Ugh. Never mind."

He chuckled his annoying chuckle. "So, Isabella-"

"I prefer to be called Bella, please, Aro."

This being nice to him was not making him be nice to me.

"So, Isabella, how is it as a soldier?"

I shrugged. I didn't want him to overreact if I said I hated it with all my heart, but I didn't want to say it was great being a soldier, either. It was far from it.

"You don't know?"

I shook my head.

"Well, fine, then. Someone's not in the mood to talk. A few days ago you wouldn't shut up."

_While you're being annoyed by Aro, I'm coming to save you._

I didn't say anything. I had always heard the saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything." I was finally following that.

"Caius, bring Isabella here out to work, now." Aro ordered. Caius stood and saluted Aro.

"Yes, Aro." He said. I followed him out into the sunny but cold day, and we walked silently. We walked past where Edward and I had had our first real conversation, and then past my old cabin. The side where we'd sat to talk was empty and dark, deserted. No one but us had ever sat there to talk. I saw my mom walking ahead of us, along with everyone else from her cabin. I wanted to say something to her, but nothing I could say would make her feel better.

Actually, if I told her Edward was on his way to save us, she would probably listen. I needed to tell her that.

"You see that one?" I pointed to a random person walking with my mom.

Caius squinted and then nodded. "What about them?"

"I saw them do something wrong just now. I'll go reprimand them."

He nodded. I shook my head as I walked away and toward my mom; why the hell would he believe that?! Oh, well. It was better than him saying no.

I stood between the woman I had pointed at that was talking to my mom and my mom. I talked to my mom without turning my head to her, but I also talked so the people around couldn't hear.

"Mom, Edward is coming to save us." I told her.

"Bella, I am not speaking to you."

"Mom, just listen. Edward is coming, and he is going to save us."

"Who's Edward?"

"He's the soldier."

"Ugh."

"He's different, Mom! And he's not a soldier anymore; he's in another camp as someone like us, Jewish."

"Doesn't mean he's never been a soldier."

"But still, he's not like all of them. He was forced to become a soldier, and he thinks the Jewish are equal to everyone else. He can help us. And Alice, too."

Alice. I hadn't seen her in so long. Maybe I'd pay her a visit today, if I could find a way to get there.

She sighed. "How do you know he's even coming?"

"He sent me a letter from Poland. He said right now, he's on his way."

"I'm sure he is."

"Do you want to come, or not?"

"How can I trust him?"

"Trust _me,_ then."

"Look at what you're wearing."

"It doesn't make a difference. I'm still you're daughter. I'm still Jewish."

She was silent for a minute. "And you're sure he's not like them?"

"Positive. He told me he loves me, Mom."

She didn't say anything. Maybe that part wasn't necessary.

"What do you say, Mom? Will you come?"

We got to where the Jewish people were working, and she stopped walking. "Yes." She answered, walking away.

"I'll come get you when he comes." I called after her. I turned back to Caius.

"What did you tell them?" he asked.

"I told them, 'You stop that nonsense at once! Now!' They apologized and pretty much ran away."

"All right." He nodded, pleased with my learning to be a soldier. Too bad I wasn't actually happy about being a Nazi. But, he didn't need to know that.

But Alice needed to know.

**Alice**

Wherever I was had to be the most magical place ever. Different sceneries seemed to appear out of no where, but it still seemed all real. I was with my parents, and that was the best part. I'd seen a lot of my relatives, but only the ones who had passed away before…

Aunt Linn had died of Influenza when I was 2. I'd only met her a couple of times. When I met her here, she seemed so familiar, like I'd seen her every day for 15 years. Uncle Caleb had died a year ago, also because of the Influenza. It was an epidemic, so many of my family members who died were taken because of this disease.

I also saw another aunt, and two other uncles. Plus, I got to see my grandparents, all four of them. I loved all of them, but they were all taken away from us.

Since I was able to see my dead family members-except for my parents, who weren't dead-was this death for me? Or was I about to die, and was I being welcomed by them to wherever you went once you died?

Here came the last family member, who had died without me even knowing it. Emmett, my strong and tall older brother, who hadn't been living at home. It had been awhile since I saw him, but once I did, I ran to him and jumped into his big arms to hug him.

**Bella**

I ran into the cabin for the ill people to talk to Alice. I had offered to go check there on the people, since Aro was about to order Caius to go see what they were up to.

I saw Alice lying on her bed, eyes closed, and a guy about our age sitting next to her, holding her hand. The way he looked at her was so sincere and concerned-like a brother, maybe? Or love?

He looked up at me solemnly. "Don't take her yet." He hissed. "She may still be conscious."

"What?" I asked, running over to them. I knelt on the other side of the bed, looking at Alice. "What are you talking about? I'm Bella, Alice's friend. Who are you?"

"Jasper. Why would you be a soldier if you're her Jewish friend?"

"I was forced to. What's wrong with her?"

He stared down at Alice's unconscious form. "I think she's dead," he said quietly.

Alice. Dead. No, it was not true! She wasn't dead, she couldn't be! I put my hand to her wrist to check for a pulse. Nothing. I felt her neck for a pulse. Nothing. I looked at Jasper in panic.

"She can't be!" I cried. "Alice--come back! Don't leave! Edward's coming."

He looked at me suspiciously. "That soldier? He's coming back?"

"How'd you even know he left?"

"I heard it from someone."

I looked at Alice again, begging her to be alive. "Alice? Alice--don't give up. You can't." The tears poured down my cheeks, blurring my vision. "She isn't dead."

"You can say that. I wouldn't."

"You're just going to give up on her?"

"I've been with her this whole time, while she needed me." He stood. "I'll be back later. I need to…think." He slowly left, the only sound being the door slamming shut.

"Alice," I began, "I'm so sorry I wasn't here to help. But I hope you know how much I'm going to miss you." I couldn't stop crying now. "I'll make sure they don't throw you away or something--but I don't know what you'd want to be done with you when you died…it wasn't supposed to happen." I paused. "Either I can bury you and make you a tombstone, or you could be cremated. I don't know which you'd prefer." I sniffled at the thought of all this. I wished I didn't have to do any of that.

I remembered awhile ago, one day at school, when we'd gotten to the subject of death, for some reason. We had all said what we thought were not preferable ways to honor someone who had passed away.

"I would not want to be cremated," Alice had said, "I want to be buried, somewhere that was important to any of you guys." She'd smiled at me.

Somewhere that was very important to me. I wanted to honor her as best as I could.

"I know." I told her. I knew where I could bury my best friend with the most honor possible, somewhere that was important to me. After all, Alice deserved the best.


	23. Chapter 23

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. Sorry I didn't update yesterday!**_

**Bella**

"Don't worry, Alice." I said quietly, looking for a sheet. "I will do as you wish--I will bury you to honor you."

I found a sheet from another bed. I walked back to Alice, taking one last look at her. Fighting back tears, I covered her with the sheet. Jasper walked back into the cabin, his hand to his chin, as if he were thinking.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Alice told me once she'd want to be buried where one of her friends found important."

"And where the hell would that be _here_?"

"Follow me, and please help me carry her. Carefully."

He walked over to me and then picked her up carefully. I led him out of the cabin, looking to the left and right. No one was there, so I went toward my old cabin. Fresh tears sprang in my eyes, making me unable to see as I walked. Eventually the tears fell, clearing my vision.

I stopped at the side of the old cabin.

Jasper raised and eyebrow. "Here?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes," I said. "It's important to me. It's where I used to talk to Edward. I would say to bury her by your cabin, but that's impossible. I would because it's where I talked to _her, _but yeah…impossible."

He nodded. "I understand…I think."

And so, together we found shovels and started digging. I felt sick, having to bury my best friend in the world, but it was what she wanted, and that's what I wanted done for her.

"We love you, Alice." Jasper said quietly once she was descended in the hole we had dug.

I held back tears to no avail and nodded as we began filling the ground again.

**Edward**

"Well, Emmett, I guess this is goodbye." I said. "You sure you or Carlisle don't want to come?" I'd invited them to come, in case they too felt the need to escape.

He nodded. "We'll stay here. We might have to make an excuse of why you aren't here later, anyway."

"All right. Well, tell Carlisle good luck in everything he does. Same for you."

"Thanks, Edward."

We shook hands. He smiled.

"You'd better get going." He said. "The train's leaving soon, I think."

"Okay. Thanks again for everything."

"No problem."

I waved one last time and then left the tent, running through the camp in order not to get caught. I wandered around, looking for the trains. Finally I found them, all the way at the other end of the camp. Emmett had been right before; there was one leaving for Auschwitz around this time. How'd he find these things out?

Many people were boarding, either being yelled at or yelling at someone. I went up to the gate, and then entered the large boarding area. Soldiers were everywhere, pacing back and forth. I went to one of the train cars and then stood in line to go on. A woman in front of me was crying her eyes out, and the man behind me was muttering to himself.

"Wha-what am I gonna do?" he muttered. "R-r-run away. Run away. No-no; don't."

I went on the train when it was my turn to get on. The soldier eyed me suspiciously but let me on, anyway. I guessed he didn't know who I was.

The train was crammed with people until they finally decided that was all that could fit, and they slammed the sliding doors shut, making the train pitch black. It left, riding along he tracks and passing first the camp, and then many different sceneries as we headed to Germany.

I was finally on my way.

**Bella**

I walked back to the main building once I'd finished with Alice's ceremony of honor that Jasper and I had created, and after I talked to Jasper for a bit and left. Aro was still there, and he was actually holding a mirror up to his face this time. I'd never known he'd actually care about his appearance that much.

"Bella," he said, still looking at his reflection, "are you any good with cutting hair?"

I looked at him strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"I need someone to cut my hair. Would you? You're a girl…aren't they supposed to know more about hair and stuff?"

I was never much of the girly type. Some girls back at the Jewish school were very self conscious about their appearance. However, I was not one to fret about that.

"Not particularly." I answered.

"Will you, anyway?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine." I walked over to him and grabbed the scissors he held out to me. "How much do you want cut off?"

"Maybe an inch or two. I like my hair long."

"All right."

Now, I was never the most artistic person in the world, so I didn't know what was a straight line when cutting hair. I hoped it was good enough as I took part of the hair he had tied back and cut it off. The hair fell to the floor, and I straightened out the line again. I stood back.

"Good enough?" I asked.

He looked in the mirror; his eyes went wide.

"How much did you cut off?!" he exclaimed.

"Only, like, an inch! That's what you said!"

"This is more than an inch! You cut off at least four inches of my hair!"

"Well, sorry I don't have anything to measure it with!"

"You should be. For that, maybe I should give you a hair cut."

I looked at this weird man, one eyebrow raised. "No way, Aro."

"Well, I didn't ask for this much hair to be cut. Neither did you, but that doesn't have to stop me."

I began walking to my cabin before I'd say anything too bad. He followed.

"Come back here, Bella!"

I continued walking, not turning to see where he was. I slammed the door of the cabin behind me.

"Open up, Bella! You could at least apologize."

"Sorry." I said.

_Yeah, sorry that your hair looks even worse now. _

"That's not a good enough apology."

"Aro, I am so sorry I cut off too much of your hair. Please forgive me."

He sighed, and then I heard his footsteps start to walk away.

"You're lucky I kind of like you." He muttered.

I was taken aback; since when did he like me?! No, he didn't…I didn't like him, at least. He separated Edward and I, he threatened me, he made me turn into a soldier…why would he even like me?

I shook my head and then went to lie down. There was no where to go, no one to talk to. No Alice. No Edward. No Mother. My mom didn't even want to talk to me, anyway.

_Oh, Edward, please come soon._

_**Okay, so…the hair thing isn't playing a big role in the story, but I wanted to show how Bella was right when she'd once thought Aro would like look at himself in a mirror all day. Anyway, please review, favorite, alert, etc. Thanks!**_


	24. Chapter 24

Hi everyone sorry if u thought this was a chapter, but I need to apologize for the last chapter..I didn't like it much, but I kinda felt like u guys deserved for me to update it. I tried, but I am really tired lol. Maybe if u guys want I can rewrite it. Again, sorry and I'll try my absolute best for the next chapter!


	25. Chapter 25

_**I am SO sorry I haven't updated in days! I will definitely update more often than that. **_

_**Anyway, I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**_

**~Bella**

I felt like a little kid again, waiting impatiently for something on its way. I would remain awake at night, thinking. I would constantly think about that one thing I wanted-whether it be a new toy from the store or that new coat that was coming out. Now, I impatiently waited for Edward to come, so I could leave here and find a way out, finally.

When was he coming?

I sat at the long table the next morning, my eyes tired, with purple lines underneath. I was eating for once after awhile; my stomach growled once I smelt food approaching.

I looked at the food set in the center of the table as some other soldiers started to eat. I reached my hand out to grab food, but Aro put his hand out to stop me.

"I don't think so," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I think my hair would explain it to you if it could speak."

"But I'm starving!"

He shrugged. "You can last a little bit longer, can you?"

Thinking of it, yes, I could last a bit longer. Edward was on his way, so I only had to deal with Aro being like this to me for that much longer.

"All right," I said, a strange amount of happiness in my voice. I stood. "I'll just go out to work, then."

Aro looked taken aback. "Um…okay?"

I walked out into the bright day. Although it was cold, I felt warmed by the sunlight shining down on me. I guessed this was why many people liked to hope for the best; so they could see the good things in life.

Seeing the people working held back the good mood I was in, though. Seeing them weep and almost fall over from exhaustion hurt me. I tried not to think too much; it would just make me begin to weep as well.

My mother was there, walking with another woman. I wanted to run over to her, give her a hug, and say: "Don't worry, Mom! Edward is coming to help us!" But…she didn't trust me anymore. Sure, she'd come with us to wherever it is we were to go, but she still wouldn't trust me as much as she used to. I was a different person in her eyes. Actually, I thought I was a different person now, too. Except, she thought I was a bad person. I wasn't sure what I thought of myself, but I knew I was different than before.

**~Edward**

The train rolled down the tracks, making my head bump against the door, waking me up. I put a hand to my aching head and looked out the small window. Sunlight poured in where it could, and everyone slowly woke up. We were most likely almost at Auschwitz. Yesterday had been long and painful. Everyone standing in the train had been thrown around the train from all the bumps in the road, and I'd hit my head, helping me fall asleep. Or unconscious. Anyway, it hadn't been a great night.

The train came to an abrupt stop, and everyone jolted, standing up immediately. I rubbed my eyes and ran my hand through my messy hair. We all waited until the doors would slide open, revealing the camp I had once been a soldier at.

**~Bella**

I tapped my foot, humming. I was trying to not think about Edward coming, but it wasn't working.

"Isabella." Aro's annoying voice called. I turned, and he was walking toward me, shorter hair and all. He was actually out of the main building, in the sunlight.

"Yes?" I asked, still finding his uneven haircut funny.

"The train just arrived. They're here. I need you to go and bring them to wherever they belong. Got it?"

The train was here?! "The train?" I asked, trying not to sound excited. "It's…here?"

"Yes…who cares? Just go." He turned away, walking down the dirt trail. I almost jumped in excitement. I went over to where the trains where, and scanned the crowd of people. Other soldiers, like Caius and Felix, were just throwing everyone off. Whenever I saw someone near me, I tried being as nice as possible to help them to where they needed to go.

Then, I saw him.

Standing in the crowd.

Alone.

Looking. For me.

I was on the verge of crying in joy as I ran closer to him, flinging my arms out for his embrace. He noticed me and also started coming over to me. I finally reached him and jumped into his arms, and he held me and spun me around.

"Edward," I said, wiping a tear away. "You're here!"

"Like I promised, Bella." He said in his velvet voice. He looked down at me, his eyes sparkling.

"What the-?! Hey, Aro-we have an unwanted visitor!"

We looked at each other in panic.

We were caught.

_**:O Sorry for the short chapter and the cliff, but I had to do it! Again, sorry for not updating in so long, but I'll try to update every day or every other day! Thanks!**_


	26. Chapter 26

_**Sorry I didn't update in a couple of days :\**_

_**I do not own any of Stpehenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**_

**~Bella**

"Come, Aro--I saw them, this way!" Caius shouted behind us as they came closer, toward us. I looked up at Edward frantically. This could not be it, we could not be caught. Not after all that had happened.

Edward looked at me, his eyes cold and dark. And worried.

"Run now, Bella. Run away from here." He said quietly.

"No Edward, I won't leave you here."

"You have to."

"But what about you? What about my mom?"

"I can tell her and get her out of here eventually."

"They'll _kill _you if I leave right now."

He was silent for a minute. "They'll kill you, too." He mumbled.

I gulped at the thought. Once Aro and Caius were here, we were finished. I looked up at him again, holding his hands.

"Go now, Bella." He told me.

"No one's going anywhere!"

Aro's voice played in my ears, giving me a sudden headache. I shut my eyes tightly, hoping it would make all of this go away. It didn't work. Aro was here and we had been caught. There was no fairy tale ending to my story. Alice was gone. My mother did not want anything to do with me. My father and Jonah were in a new camp. Edward would be separated from me again.

All of this was in my mind as other soldiers gathered around Edward and I, and we were both grabbed to make sure we couldn't run away. I found myself thinking of Alice the most--my best friend in school and forever. I wished I would have been allowed to see her more during the time we were here.

Maybe she was watching me now, watching this all happen. Knowing her, she would not have wanted this to ever happen to me, even if she didn't like Edward. She cared about me, and I cared about her. That's what friends did. Cared.

_Alice, if you can hear me, send me a sign that you can. Show me that you're here with me. Show me I'm not alone._

I flashed back to what was happening then. Edward was on the opposite side of me, and soldiers yelled various things. I looked into Edward's eyes. He stared at me for a long moment and then turned away as he was thrown into the back of a large wagon, with bars on the back of the door creating a small window. It was shut, leaving his head showing, for he stood to look at me once more. I realized then I was crying, but I didn't hear my cries or feel the tears in my eyes.

I was not crying just because of Edward. I was crying for everything now. Everything that had happened over these years. Everyone I had lost.

Aro did not know where to begin. What to say. Was he to yell because of Edward coming here? Or for me knowing he was coming? Turned out he'd eventually found out our plan for Edward to come here. How, he wouldn't tell me. So, instead of speaking, he paced back and forth in the main building, me tied down to a chair surrounded by other soldiers. Every once in awhile he'd look at me, stop pacing, and then continue. This lasted for about ten minutes.

"You know, you must not value your life after all the things you have done." He finally spoke, turning to me. If death was what was coming to me, it was to come soon, I could tell. "You repeatedly told me, 'I won't break the rules ever again.'" He used a fake girl voice to imitate me. "Look at what you've done! Broken the rules again!" He threw his arms in the air.

I looked up at him uncaringly. I felt numb, like nothing mattered to me anymore.

"Are you going to say anything?!" he exclaimed. "Do you want me to kill you?!"

They probably would kill me, I thought. I didn't know if I exactly minded, either. With everyone who I had cared about away from me in some shape or form, I was angry, sad, and feeling every other negative emotion. If he had killed me right then and there, I probably would not have felt it.

"Do you?!" he asked again.

Without thinking, my instincts were to shake my head, staring in front of me blankly.

"You don't?" He walked over to me, taking a long knife from the top of the long table. He held it in front of me, the light reflecting off it and shining. "I don't know if you're going to get away with it this time."

"Let her," a voice said from the crowd of soldiers. I looked up, scanning them for the person who said that.

A man stepped out of the crowd, looking sternly at Aro.

"We need more soldiers, anyway. We're short some." He said harshly to Aro. "Stop with the crap of threatening her. Just do your job and make her do her job."

Aro seemed to have a leader of his own, too. He looked at this man in fear, somewhat. His face turned into a panicked expression, and he set the knife down on the counter.

"Very well, Demetri." Aro said, slightly _bowing _to him. I guessed this Demetri man was very powerful, or just very strong and able to win a fight if one started. Aro backed away from me and looked at me in the eyes.

"You heard him." He said to me. "I will spare you."

I stared at the ground, unable to think, unable to speak. This was how I was to live from now on. For a long time.

**~Edward**

My head crashed against the metal bar of the back door of the vehicle I was in. I woke up standing. I had fallen asleep by leaning against the door, my arms reaching out the bars and out the back. I pulled my arms back and stretched. The first thought in my mind was: Bella. If they hadn't killed me, why would they kill her? I kept that theory in my head to calm me down.

…Where _was _I going?

I looked out the small window. There were fields, and the sun was out. That was it. I couldn't tell where we were, why we were there, or where we were headed to. I slid against the wall to sit on the cool ground, and waited.

**~Bella**

Numb: to take away all feelings from someone. That was exactly how I felt as I walked down the dirt path that next morning. The day before, after Demetri had told Aro to let me live and the rest of the soldiers--besides Aro--had left the main room. Aro had remained there, glaring at me.

"_You think you can get away with everything, don't you?" he'd asked._

_He'd decided to teach me a lesson by throwing punches and kicks. _

I looked down at the bruises on my arms as I trudged down the path. My hair was flying everywhere. I didn't care what it looked like. I hadn't cared about my appearance for quite awhile, anyway. Now, I cared all the more less. Getting through each day now would be torture itself.

Another day in this camp. Another day being forced to watch them work. Another day I'd have to deal with Aro.

The days go slower and slower and slower…

_**Things are not looking good D: but there's still more to this story. Anyway, thanks to everyone!**_


	27. Chapter 27

_Okay, so 3 things: 1, sorry I haven't been updating daily. I've been trying to update every day, but sometimes I either have writer's block or am too busy with school or something. 2, another reason this certain story hasn't been updated in a few days is because I'm working on a new story now. Check it out :D anyway, 3, in this chapter it will be a new time frame…well, not a new time frame, but a couple of months later. I'll say it again once this chapter starts, so I'll just stop talking now._

_I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc._

_Also, forgot to fix one thing--so the real liberation of Auschwitz was in January, I think, so I'm kind of off with the months for the story. I couldn't be exactly accurate. :/_

*5 months later*

~Bella

**I woke up to the same room that I'd slept in for months now, with the same routine of every day ahead of me. I got up, got changed, tried to comb through my hair, and then went into the main building, where Aro sat happily, contently, eating something. I glared at him, but he didn't notice. I didn't care. I was still so angry at him, so angered by all of this, that I didn't try to get him mad at me anymore, or to find a way out of here. I'd grown numb over the past months--what else was I to do?**

**A little while after I'd seen Edward for the last time, I'd talked to my mom to tell her that Edward was here but then taken away, possibly to be killed. She'd understood, and told me that she was sorry, and she'd given me a hug. **

"**It's okay, Sweetie," she'd said to me, "I know you tried."**

**It was kind of unexpected that she was acting like this to me. She'd been angry at me for awhile for even talking to a soldier, but now she understood and wanted to be supportive. Now, I couldn't get more support, since Aro had decided to not allow me to talk to my mother ever again.**

**So, the numbness came back after one day. **

**I sat down--far from Aro; across the table--and took food without asking. I was used to all these soldiers by now, so I didn't care what they said to me, which could be pretty mean stuff. **

"**Good morning to you, too, Isabella." Aro said, smirking.**

**I looked blankly at the breakfast in front of me and did not say anything. I hadn't spoke in so long…maybe about a month. I lost track. **

"**I see," he said, returning to his meal. **

**He smiled at me again, I could see from my peripheral vision, and I wanted to smack his head against the table right there. The anger--along with the sadness, hopelessness, and all the other not preferable emotions--was bottled up in my mind, never to be looked at again, but I knew some day, perhaps soon, I'd have to get the emotions out somehow. And hitting Aro's head against a table seemed to be the way to go. But, before I did do that, I stopped myself, thinking that I'd just have to deal with him yelling if I had done that.**

**~Edward**

"Please, do you have any bread? Anything?"

I looked down at the elderly man, who was on his knees, outside by the cabins and tents. He looked so weak, so sick, so old.

I'd noticed a huge decrease in the number of Jewish people here over the past few months, in whichever camp this was. I didn't focus on that anymore. I needed to focus on surviving this--it was 1945. I had a good feeling about this year. Something about it…I didn't know what.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't have any." My voice was hoarse from lack of water. I cleared it.

"Please, I beg you!" he coughed a couple of times and looked back up at me.

"I'm sorry, I haven't gotten any."

"Please find some!"

"I don't know where it is. I'm sorry." I left, unable to do anything to help. I was helpless myself.

I could still remember Bella's letter like I had read it yesterday. I remembered us promising each other we'd see each other again.

_I love you, Edward. We can't give up. _She'd said that so sure of herself.

_I know somehow, somewhere, we will meet up again._

That had been right. We'd met up the day I was taken here. I shook my head, trying to forget that day.

I walked through the rugged landscape, kicking rocks on my way. I only wandered here; for some reason, they didn't put us to work much; well, they put us to work--and a lot of work, indeed--but a lot of the time they just yelled at us and we just went around, hungry, our stomachs growling, trying to find food, or something else. My stomach growled fiercely, so much that it hurt. I tried ignoring it, but that became almost impossible.

I saw Rosalie Hale, a girl I'd met here before, on the other side of the dirt field, sitting. She'd told me she knew Bella, that they were friends in school. It hurt to think of Bella, of where she could be at that moment. Had they killed her? I wouldn't be able to know.

I walked over to her and sat next to her.

"Hi, Rosalie." I said.

"Edward," she said weakly.

I was silent for a minute. "I was wondering…how again did you know Bella?"

She sort of smiled. "You want to know everything about her."

I didn't say anything.

"Well, I went to the same Jewish school as her. Alice, she, and I were good friends."

"And when were you brought here?"

"After Bella was taken. My mother told me about she being gone after Alice." She looked away from me, tears gathering in her eyes. "I felt so alone, without them. Going to school each day, the number of students there decreasing….A few days later, while I walked to school one day…they took me."

"Your parents?"

She shrugged and looked back at me. "I don't know."

I nodded.

"Where is Alice?" she asked quietly.

I didn't want to tell her; it would hurt her even more.

"Edward." She said.

"Rosalie…she's…"

She realized; more tears gathered in her eyes, falling down her cheeks.

"Is she…?"

I nodded sadly. "I'm sorry."

She pursed her lips and stood. "I have to go." She said darkly. She began to walk away, kicking the small rocks ahead of her. I heard a sob from the cabin she went into. I remained sitting, looking up at the clouds.

**~Bella**

"You have to take more charge. Just yell at them!" Caius was trying to give me "pointers" on how to work here. I thought it was just plain cruel and stupid, but I remained quiet.

"Hello? Bella?"

I turned to him as we walked down the dirt path. The dark lines under my eyes and the bloodshot in them must have been what made him look surprised to see my face.

"Will you just yell-"

I interrupted him by speaking for once in about a month of silence.

"Look, I am not yelling at them. They are like me, Jewish, and don't deserve this. I don't deserve this right now, either. So leave me alone. Okay?!"

He sighed. "Look who's speaking now."

"You'd rather me ignore you?! Okay."

"No, no. We've been meaning to talk to you about your ignoring us."

I squinted at him. "Shut…up…!"

He listened. Finally. I shook my head and kept walking, him close by, making sure I was never to run away.

_**Short chapter. Sorry about that…they're also shorter cuz of the other story I've been working on. Please check that out, too. Thanks!**_


	28. Chapter 28

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**_

_**Ok so I have a feeling this story is almost at its end… D: I have one planned event to happen in this story. Maybe I'll think of something else without having to drag it out…it depends on whatever that idea is. I'll make some kind of "speech" when it's officially over, so Ill just get to the chapter now.**_

_**Oh, and to jediahsokaroxx: sorry I didn't respond to ur review but I believe it was really liberated in January 1945. I searched it and some results said that but others had weird answers…I think it is that though.**_

**~Bella**

Three long weeks passed. I was hungry, but not as hungry as my mother. I'd seen the way she walked--limp and helpless. She was starving, I knew it. She needed a decent meal.

We all did.

My mother gained a bad reputation at the camp because of me. Well, the others didn't focus much on reputations since they were fighting for their lives in camps, but whenever my mother tried to talk to someone, in their mind they thought of who she was and who her daughter was. I was a disgrace to the family name.

Everything was always the same now, every day, until one cold, cold night. It seemed too cold and dark for something like this to happen. The air was clean and crisp, the breeze brushing past me, sending my hair flying.

I'd been told to clean the kitchen. As I cleaned dishes, everything was normal…if you could count this as normal. Well, it was usual for everyone here by now.

But then, a bomb hit.

The sound was like a thousand bombs hitting the ground, but only one had hit. I heard screams of panic, and I saw people running through the window in the small kitchen. I dropped the pot I was drying to the floor, and it clattered and spun, finally stopping after a minute. I began running, outside the building.

I didn't know who was bombing the camp, if it was for a good or bad reason, or where I was supposed to run to. So, I just ran, dodging any soldiers from spotting me by hiding by corners. I didn't want them to see me, for they'd probably make me go with them. I would never go with them. Not during a time like this.

More bombs rained over the camp, making the night not so much filled with stars anymore, but filled with dust and ash. Everyone's yelling filled the air as well, almost drowning out the sounds of the bombs. I was almost hyperventilating, running back and forth and not knowing where to go. Should I just leave? I wondered.

Where was my mom? I ran again, now knowing what I was looking for, at least. My mom.

I saw her, finally, by her cabin, holding her head with her hands and crying out. She saw me and stood, running over to me to give me a hug.

I hugged her back, crying as well. She stood back and looked me in the eye.

"Bella, what do we do?!" she asked.

"I don't know, Mom." I said. "Who's bombing us?"

"I don't know, I don't know!"

I looked around, trying to find a clue. Suddenly, with a crash, the front gate burst open, and tanks came in one by one. There must have been over a hundred of them. There was a flag on the side of each one.

The American flag.

"They're here," my mom cried in relief. She smiled, the tears still in her eyes.

I couldn't believe it, but it was liberation the Americans were after. I'm sure other countries were helping as well, but seeing that flag was enough for me to know:

We could be free.

That thought faded when I heard the first gun shots. Some from the Nazis, some from the American soldiers. I covered my ears from the noise, but then got used to it and put my hands away from my ears.

"Renee, don't just stand here!" an older woman, wearing a Jewish star, told us as she ran past. "Get away, go hide while you can!"

I looked at my mom.

"Bella…" She said, tears gathering in her eyes again. "I think what Esme is saying is right…we have to go."

"You mean…not together? Separately?"

She nodded, her eyes closing and tears pouring out. "It's safer. So we can split up."

"But Mom, what if…?"

"Don't say that. We'll meet again if we can. But for now…" She gave me another hug, a hug that she'd never given me. It meant more than all the other times my mother has hugged me. "We have to go different ways." She whispered, a gun shot ringing loudly in my head.

I looked back at her. "Okay, Mom."

She kissed my forehead, and then was running away from me.

I looked for somewhere to go, somewhere to hide until this fight was over. I began running, trying to steady my breathing so I wouldn't have to stop. I turned the corner of the alleyway Edward and I had talked once.

I was surprised to see people there.

Aro and an American soldier fought, no weapons on them, but just plain fought. I stood there for a minute, registering what was happening.

They both noticed me.

"Take her!" Aro said. "She's a soldier!"

"No, I'm not!" I screamed back as the American gave me a look. "I'm Jewish."

"A Jewish soldier!"

"No! You made me become what I am!"

Aro didn't say anything with words; only with actions. He pulled out a large knife--I don't know why he hadn't chosen to use it while fighting the soldier--and then swiftly killed the American soldier, sending him falling to the ground. He turned around me, and then backed me into the corner of the alleyway, the knife right in front of me. I looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Aro, don't." I said, trying to sound strong. Instead, my voice was shaky and scared.

"I'm done playing games." He said through clenched teeth. "Now that these soldiers are going to try to kill me, I might as well do what I've wanted to do. Kill you."

The tears gathered in my eyes, and I winced, waiting for him to kill me.

"Goodbye, Isabella Swan." I heard his voice say.

Gunshot.

_A gunshot?_ I wondered. He had a knife…

I opened my eyes slowly and saw Aro, standing there, his eyes rolled back behind his head. He collapsed to the ground, the back of his head hitting the ground, along with the rest of him. My breathing was shaking; was I going to be shot next?

I looked up, at the entrance of the alleyway, and saw a uniformed American, and he nodded to me.

"Are you a soldier?" he asked me sternly.

"I-I am, kind of. I-I…they made me become one. I'm Jewish, though. I didn't want to be one."

He nodded.

"Thank you."

"Keep safe. We're here to help."

He gave a quick smile and then left to continue saving who he could. I began walking out of the alleyway, looking at Aro once more before leaving.

I looked around, wondering where to go. I had to find somewhere to hide for now, until this was all over.

If it would ever be over.

**~Edward **

I woke up in the middle of the night, perhaps about two in a.m., because of the sounds of shouts. I got out of bed quickly and left the cabin to see many uniformed soldiers running throughout the camp. The Nazis went to fight them, everyone holding some form of weapon. The other Jewish people either hid in their cabins or ran, looking for somewhere to stay safe.

These other soldiers were ones I could recognize. They were Americans, here to liberate us.

I knew it had to come soon!

I watched all of them, and they began fighting. Gun shots, shouts, threats, it all came. I cringed at the first noise, but then stood there, wondering what was to come.

The group of fighting soldiers came closer and closer, and so I went into the cabin, trying to find the way to be safe for the time it would take for full liberation to come.

_**Like it?? Tell me what you think please. When I first started this story, I got a ton of reviews…then I started getting less D: I personally love getting reviews, it makes me confident when writing. :D don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled when I get a review, I don't wanna sound annoying by asking. but please, if u can, review and tell me what u think. Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorite, etc. etc. etc. **_


	29. Chapter 29

_**Sorry I haven't updated in so long! I haven't gotten to write in awhile! **_

_**Anyway…**_

_**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. **_

**~Bella**

The sun rose slowly that next morning, as I awaited for dawn to finally come. I saw the fog start to move about, rising up into the air and beyond. The ground was wet from dew, and I lifted my hand and examined it. I shivered from the brisk morning air as the sun began to shine and some birds from far away sang.

I stood slowly from where I'd hidden the entire night and brushed the dirt off my knees. I looked around for people, my eyes half-closed from tiredness. It was silent, so silent it was loud. I could hear my heart beating like a drum, loud and clear. I took a deep breath and kept looking.

"H-hello?" I asked, my voice shaky. I was still cold from the cold night of staying outside.

No answer. I stared up at the cloudy but sunny sky, watching as some birds flew past. I looked back ahead of me. It was still barren and empty of people.

"Anyone here?" I asked again. A gust of wind brushed past me, whistling like a voice of a person, telling me to leave.

Guns and some people lay around me. I winced at the sight and tried to keep strong and keep walking. On my walk toward the front gate I saw Caius and Felix.

I reached the front gate without seeing anyone. They were all gone by now, I figured. Even my mother had found a way out of here.

I put a hand to the gate, deciding whether or not to open it. I'd been here so long, freedom seemed like a strange thing to me…

I finally opened the strong iron gate and pushed it ahead of me. With one last turn to the camp, I walked out, cold and alone. Where I was going, I didn't know. If I'd get anywhere, I didn't know either.

**~Edward**

"Edward, come. Wake up."

I was shaken awake, and I jolted. I was kneeling by the small window of my cabin. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. It was early morning; the sun had just risen. I turned to Rosalie, who was standing in front of me now.

"What happened?" I asked tiredly.

She smiled at me for once in a very long time. "Liberation," she said, "they're here to take us away. They're going to save us."

I was stunned. "It's okay? What happened to all the Nazis here?"

She shook her head. "They beat them."

"Oh my God." I said quietly, still surprised. This was over. We were free…

"Where are they taking us?" I asked. "Do you think Bella will be there, too?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, Edward. Come on, we have to go. They're getting everyone ready to leave now."

I nodded. "Okay."

I stood and followed her out of the cabin and to where everyone else was. We were to walk to where we were going, but I didn't mind, as long as we were leaving here.

A soldier nodded to me, and I did the same. I was so grateful to all of them to come here. I was just preoccupied with thinking if Bella was safe or not.

**~Bella**

I continued walking, hoping maybe I'd find someone around to help me. Except, even though I was walking who knows where alone, with no food or water, I felt great. I felt free, happy, like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. The weight of being there.

I caught sight of something--or someone--ahead of me, but far ahead. I squinted to see who it was. I saw a uniform with an American flag printed on it, along with other badges or pins.

At first I began to walk faster, but then I broke out into a run. "Hey!" I called, now running as fast as I'd ever ran in my life. "Wait!"

The soldier--a younger guy, maybe in his 20s--turned to me and gave a glad look. I finally reached him and he put a hand to my back to be supportive, I guessed.

"Where are you from?" he asked me, his expression kind.

"Auschwitz. I just left."

"Hey, everyone!" he called. Soon, more soldiers came up from ahead of us, all with one tank following them.

I smiled and laughed from relief. They all went around me, one giving me a blanket after realizing that I was freezing. I began walking with the first soldier I saw to wherever we were going; I didn't care.

I was officially free.

I thought of Edward, where he could be. He had to be where everyone else was going…assuming that they hadn't hurt them. If they had…

I shook my head, shaking away the thought. Edward was safe, I told myself. He'd be fine. I would find him. He'd find me.

"Was everyone else from Auschwitz taken somewhere?" I asked.

"Yes. Everyone's at the same place." He said. "Any family members?"

I thought of my mother. "My mom." I said. "And a friend who was from there but taken somewhere else."

He nodded. "Well I hope you will find them."

I was silent.

"We need to get you to a doctor. You look pretty sick."

I hadn't really paid attention to how I felt health-wise. I actually felt fine. But, he was the soldier, after all; he probably knew better.

"I don't feel sick…" I told him. "I look it?"

"Yes. You're skin and bones, and you're face has gone extremely pale. We need to test for illnesses as well."

I didn't disagree with him. I needed some food and water pretty badly, anyway.

And so we continued walking, and eventually I heard the shouts of everyone else as they waved and cheered to the soldiers.

_**Short chapter D: I'm sorry. I don't think I'll be able to update for a couple of days but I'll try my best…just keep checking for updates and as soon as possible it'll be up! Thanks!**_


	30. Chapter 30

**I am so so so so so so sorry that it has been so long since I have updated! I feel really bad about it! D: Please don't be mad; keep reviewing and reading please! I have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to update! :\**

**And I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**

**~Edward**

Everyone gathered in one spot after we had walked for a few hours. My legs felt weak, like I was going to fall over any minute. I sat down on a rock, pulling a blanket I had been given more over my shoulders. I shivered and breathed out cold air. I looked up, scanning the new crowd we had met up with, hoping Bella would be here.

But she wasn't. She was still in some mysterious place I could not know of, not yet. She would come, though; she would find a way.

But for now I had to wait. I had to eat. I had to drink. I had to stay warm.

I had to survive.

The soldiers were all very kind. They didn't tell us where we were going, but it didn't matter, as long as we were with them and their thoughtfulness. Everyone else felt the same way as I did. Well all trusted them with our lives. Without them here with us, we would all have died.

A small camp-like area was set up for us to rest for the night. We were in some barren area, with no other people or towns around. It was just us as we all fell asleep while gazing at the stars.

We woke up bright and early the next day, leaving just as the sun began to rise past the horizon. I walked with everyone else, still holding the blanket over my shoulders. The morning air was cool but bearable. We all continued past the land that all looked the same, no matter how far you went. I looked ahead, trying to see if any land lie there, any people.

Perhaps Bella.

We were given water and food at another stop we took. I ate gratefully, any amount of food being enough for me. Even a crumb. When we were done, we continued walking again. This time, Rosalie walked by my side, a blanket wrapped around her as well.

"Have you found her?" she asked me, hope in her eyes.

I shook my head. "Not yet. Maybe she will be where we're headed to. Maybe she's there now."

She nodded. "I hope so. Because, if anything happened to her…"

"Nothing happened to her. Don't say things like that."

She looked up at me, a sense of fear in her eyes. Had I said that too harshly? "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"As well as I am. I'm just tired, that's all."

"How much sleep did you get yesterday?"

I shrugged. "Two hours?"

"Why?"

"Couldn't fall asleep."

"Well, then you'll sleep well today. I heard from one of the soldiers we will be stopping in about two hours to set up camp. We should be wherever we're going by tomorrow night."

I must have had a worried look on my face, because she smiled sympathetically. "We'll find her," she added.

"I know we will." I said. "Or else I won't know where to go."

I dreamt of my mother. I hadn't dreamt in awhile, so having a dream was a little strange. And of my mother--I honestly had been too preoccupied with everything else to think of her. Of course I worried about her and missed her, but I never thought I'd see her face again in a dream.

I saw my house back home, with the front wooden porch perfectly clean, without a speck of dirt. I walked up the steps carefully and walked inside the front door without knocking. This was my home, after all. My mother was in there. I slowly walked through the front part of the house and eventually made it into the kitchen, where I saw her, sitting at the kitchen counter, writing something. Her hair was tied up messily, her glasses falling off her nose as she wrote. She heard me walk in and looked up. Her hazel eyes shined with relief, and she smiled with her amazingly straight teeth showing.

She covered her mouth and took her glasses off her nose with her other hand. "Edward," she said between sobs, walking slowly over. She took her hand off her mouth and hugged me, reaching on her tip-toes to be able to do so. She was so much shorter than me; about two or three feet.

"Hi, Mom." I said in a hoarse voice. I returned her hug and stared into space, past her and into the kitchen. The same kitchen I had grown up in. The one I had watched my siblings, the one I had to feed them in whenever they cried they were hungry when my mom was out.

She backed away from me and looked up at me, tears in her eyes. "Welcome home."

"Edward?" I was shaken. I sat up quickly, shocked from being forced awake so quickly. I shook my head and saw Rosalie standing there. I gave her a questioning look.

"It's time for us to leave. See?"

Everyone was getting up and getting ready to begin walking once again. I yawned and then cursed under my breath. I was too tired to move; and too surprised from that dream. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen my mother.

We all began walking again. I kept myself from being too tired to keep walking by knowing that we would be where we were supposed to be by tonight. Rosalie did not say anything, she just walked by me. This was fine, since I was busy thinking about what I was to do when we got there.

**~Bella**

We arrived to our destination finally; I did not know where this exactly was, but the soldier I had met before told me we were staying here. It was kind of like an army base, I supposed. He told me eventually I'd be able to find somewhere to live and rebuild my life. But for now, I was to rest and calm down after all I'd been through, he told me.

I slept through the entire day, dreamlessly but peacefully.

I woke up because I heard voices of people from outside. I opened my eyes and looked out the window. It was dark out, stars scattered across the sky. I got up from the couch I was sleeping on and went outside, where many people stood around, covering themselves with blankets to keep from the cold. The soldiers that had brought me here were talking to some of them. A name popped into my mind: Edward.

He must have been here! Finally I could see him! I smiled in joy and began walking through the crowd, searching for him. I saw many mothers with their children, but no Edward.

I tapped a soldier's shoulder, and he turned to me.

"Is there anyone here named Edward Cullen?" I asked pleadingly.

He looked at a list that he held in his hand, scanning each name. "I'm sorry, but no there is not." He looked at me sympathetically. "If I see him, I'll let him know you were looking for him."

"All right. Thanks." I walked past him, still looking. Edward had to be here. Where else could he be? This was the army base!

"Edward? Is there anyone here that is or knows Edward Cullen?" I asked around, standing on my tip-toes as I looked over the crowd. I wished I were taller so I wouldn't have to walk like that.

I looked for what must have been an hour, and then stood off my tip-toes in defeat. Pain swept throughout me.

Edward was not here.

**~Edward**

We arrived to our destination late that night, hours past the sunset. There were more Jewish people there, huddled together in blankets as soldiers talked to some. I immediately began looking for Bella. I caught sight of a brunette, the back of her head, and began running despite of how tired I was. I ran so fast that the blanket I had flew somewhere, but I didn't care enough to go get it. I got to her and turned her around to face me while saying, "Bella!"

The brunette with blue eyes and a face nothing like Bella's turned to me, a scared look in her eyes. She looked at me strangely from calling her Bella.

Disappointment hit me. "Damn it," I muttered. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

She slowly nodded and walked away. I continued my search for Bella. She was here. She had to be, right?

Wrong. No matter how long I looked, how carefully I looked at everyone's face, I couldn't find her. She was not here. I wouldn't be able to find her.

And she wouldn't be able to find me.

**Again, so sorry it has been so long since I have updated! Please review, favorite, alert, etc. Thanks so much!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Time jump! Yeah so it will tell you how long has gone past. I figured I would go into the future to let everyone know what happens with each of them…the story is soon to end, I think. :\ which sucks cuz I liked writing this D: but, I do have other stories! I can actually update the one I haven't updated in like forever. And I can always think of other random ideas! Anyway!**

**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc.**

**~Bella**

*1 and a half years later*

I got home from school, tired. My mother was home, cleaning up the house. I went into the kitchen, sitting down with a glass of water. I looked at the refrigerator. There was a drawing taped on it, a picture of the four of us--my mom, dad, Jonah, and I--standing on grass, holding hands. We were all stick figures and smiling. I had two strands of long hair, as well as my mom. My dad and Jonah had one line on top of their heads for hair.

"Where's that from?" I asked pointing to the picture.

"Jonah had drawn it for me one time. Found it in the living room." My mom answered.

A year and a half ago, after liberation, I had found my mother. She was here, and I'd told the soldiers I lived here. They found out that she was here, and so we were reunited. As for my dad and Jonah, we do not know where they went. I knew from gut feeling they were living somewhere else and just unable to find us. I missed them terribly. Poor little Jonah growing up without his mommy, whom he loved so much; it seemed almost impossible to love someone that much. He loved my father, too, but somehow the bond between him and my mom was so strong even the strongest man on Earth could not break it.

"Oh," I said. I pursed my lips, thinking for a minute. "Look how happy we were," I muttered. The drawing reminded me of us before the war, when we were one ordinary, happy family. I could even picture us, holding hands and smiling. I would have laughed at the image if they were actually here and I took it for granted. I would have never known what was possible. Now, I wished I could see them again, hold their hands. I also knew who else I longed to see again.

Edward.

Just his name made me want to burst in tears and never stop. I never found him at the army base, no matter how long I looked and how many people I asked. I even looked his name up in some books I'd found in libraries. Nothing. It was like Edward Cullen never existed to anyone. Anyone except for me.

He existed, all right, as much as anyone else in this world. He was here, somewhere, mind and soul. With his light colored hair and golden eyes, he was all human and somehow not human looking at all. He looked better than any human I had ever seen. I wanted to see him once more.

My mom walked over to me and hugged me. She was not mad at me for even falling for Edward in the first place anymore; I had time to explain everything once we had gotten home. I even told her about Aro.

Just his name made me shiver. Aro had crossed the line since the first time he'd spoken to me and until he was close to killing me. If he had gotten to me a second faster…

I liked to think of his not being able to kill me as a meaning of something. Maybe it was because someone or something out there knew I was meant to see my mother again, or my dad, or my brother, or Edward. Whatever it was, I was here and waiting for what it was. If it was my mom, I was glad for that. Without her I would have no one; who knows where I'd be right now?

Rosalie was not in my school. We got put back in our regular schools, and she went to another high school. We'd gotten to speak once more after liberation, thankfully. We needed to talk about Alice.

Alice. Gone for over a year now, yet I still remembered her like it was the first day I met her. She'd smiled at me perkily outside the Jewish school, held out her hand, and said, "Hi, I'm Alice. What's your name?" From then on, we'd been best friends. Now she was gone. But I'd always remember her deep in my heart as one of the best people I knew.

"Working today?" my mom asked. I shook my head, back to reality.

"Tomorrow." I said. I'd gotten a job at a nearby small shop that sold snacks and drinks. Some kids came after school to do homework or talk. I worked behind the counter usually, getting drinks. It was a small shop and didn't have many selections. But, it was something, and I did make some money.

"Okay."

I stood. "I'm going to go do my homework." I walked down the hallway, past Jonah's room, which was left alone with the door shut. Same went for my dad's side of the couch he and my mother had both slept on. The sheets were unmade there. My mom was careful not to mess them up. I went into my room and shut the door to start my work.

"Have a good day, everyone." My teacher said to everyone as we left once my final class was over. I walked down the loud hallway, walking past everyone as they talked. I needed to get to work. I was always late, but this time I refused to be. I ran down the busy street, passed people on bikes and some in cars. I made it to the shop, and the bell on top of the door made a noise when I walked in. My manager smiled at me.

"Very good, you're on time." He said.

I smiled. "Yup." I set my book bag down on the floor and then went behind the counter. The kids from school would come soon, making it busy here. I had to enjoy the free time while it lasted.

The rush came and went as usual, many things ordered, and many people filling the limited amount of seats in the shop. Once they were all gone, I sat down tiredly.

"Busy day," my manager said.

I nodded. "Possibly the busiest ever." I began wiping down the counter with a cloth.

"You can go," he said, "I know how busy kids like you are. I'll clean up."

"You sure? Thanks."

"No problem."

I waved to him, grabbing my backpack and rushing out the door. He was such a nice man. I was lucky to work with him. He was right, too; I was busy. I had a lot to do today. I had to pick up groceries for my mom, do homework, clean up my room.

I started with the groceries. I walked down the block, past the various shops and bike riders passing by. I held a piece of paper, on which my mom had written what she wanted me to get for her.

I continued down the road, looking for that store that I loved. I didn't know why I liked it so much; I guess it was because the people there were so nice. I couldn't remember the name of it, though…

A gust of wind came, almost knocking me over. As I attempted to stay standing, the list my mom had given me flew away. I went after it, knowing that if I didn't get everything she needed, my mom would have a fit. I followed it down the road and near the center of the street, by a small fountain. Some people stood there, reading papers or socializing.

Someone who was turned around went and caught it for me. I stopped short before I could run in to them on accident.

They turned around and looked down at me. Something about the look he gave me surprised me. Something about him…

"This yours?" he asked hesitantly. It seemed he was wondering who I was as much as I wondered who he was. I knew him.

"Yes. Thanks." I took the list from him.

"You're welcome."

Then, I saw what I had been looking for what seemed forever.

Golden eyes.

I gasped, about to possibly faint. Could it be? What were the odds? I wanted to know if this was a lie; maybe I was lying to myself. Why would _he _be _here_?

He gave me the same look. He smiled slightly.

"I knew I'd find you." He whispered.

**:D Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, etc. Please please please review! I love getting them! Thanks**


	32. Found

**I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. **

**Thank you all for your reviews! We're up to 142! I never thought I would get so many!**

At first, I could not believe it. I looked at him as if he were crazy, trying to process what was happening in my head. Then, the truth hit. Edward was here for me, and he remembered me as well. This was no dream.

I smiled so much that it hurt my teeth. Then, I jumped up and hugged him, and he kissed me instead of returning the hug. All the other voices around us, all the other people were zoned out of my head for that one moment. A moment I would remember forever.

"I can't believe you're here!" I cried. "How did you find me?"

He still held me in his arms. "Very carefully," he said, grinning.

"Where were you when everyone else was liberated?"

"With some soldiers."

"How did you know I lived here?"

"I didn't. This was just my next stop." He looked down at me for a moment, his eyes shining. "And I'm here to stay."

We decided to take a walk around town. He told me about seeing Rosalie where he was and how worried she was about me. She told me that when I talked to her, too. She really was a good friend. I realized how much I missed her. He also told me about the night of liberation for him, and I said so about me. Being in that concentration camp seemed like only days ago; I had gotten so used to living that way. Remembering it was so much easier than I had thought it would be.

We sat down on a bench off the side of the road. There were so many things I could say, like: "I missed you so much," or, "I was so worried," but I knew he knew I thought that and I didn't have to say anything.

He picked up my arm with his hand, examining a long scar. "Where's that from?" he asked

"I think it's from when Aro threw a chair at me." I looked up from the scar and looked at him sternly. "He's dead, Edward."

"How?"

"He was…about to kill me. On the night of liberation. An American soldier saved me by shooting him."

Edward glared ahead of me. "He's lucky he didn't get to kill you." He said. "Or else I would've gone and killed him myself."

I took his hand in mine. "The important thing is you're still here. I mean, if he had chosen to kill you…"

"He wouldn't have been able to. Not all the soldiers in the world."

"Come on, Edward, he had all of them against you."

He shrugged. "You never know what could've happened."

I smiled slightly. "I know." That was the scary thing.

We were both quiet for a minute. Then, he said it; the three words that made my heart want to fly away.

"I love you." He said quietly but loudly enough for me to hear. I was frozen in time for a minute, so happy I was speechless.

"I love you, too." I said, almost whispering. My head was now resting on his shoulder, and I looked up at him. He kissed me again.

There was silence as I gazed out to the road, where people started heading back home to make dinner and rest for the night.

"Want me to walk you home?" he asked.

I nodded, and we both stood. He held my hand as we walked down the darkening road. I led him to my small home, the side of it still somewhat ruined from the war and being damaged. I walked in the front door, still holding his hand. My mom was in the living room.

"Did you get the groceries?" my mom asked. She hadn't seen Edward yet; he remained by the front door.

I'd completely forgotten. "Oh, no. I'm sorry. I just…ran into someone." I nodded toward Edward and he walked in.

"Hello, Mrs. Swan." He said, giving a small wave.

She looked as surprised as I looked when I first saw him.

"Edward," she greeted in a steady voice, standing up and walking toward him. For a minute she just looked up at him, a blank look in her eyes. Then, she hugged him, to my surprise. Edward looked surprised as well.

"Thank you for taking care of her there." She said quietly. She stood back, still looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't appreciate it before."

Edward smiled his wonderful crooked smile. "I know why you hated me so much. Don't worry, Mrs. Swan."

My mom smiled her "extremely happy" smile, like I sometimes called it. "You can call me Renee," she said.

"Where's your brother and-" he began to ask me, but I interrupted him by saying, "let's go to my room to talk." I didn't want my mom to get upset. Not after being able to smile like that in such a long time.

I led him down the hallway and to my room, shutting the door behind me. We both sat on my bed. I looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "We never found my dad or brother, Edward."

"Oh." He said, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

I sighed. "One day I hope to find them. Except I wonder if I will be able to recognize an older version of Jonah." I tried to laugh and somewhat succeeded. "What about your mom and little siblings?"

He shook his head, biting his lip. "I went to my house. They weren't there."

I took his hand. "You'll find them. I'll help you."

"I don't know if I want to know what happened to them."

I knew what he meant. I could imagine his sorrow to find if something bad had happened to his loved ones…I couldn't imagine finding that out about my dad and-

_Don't think of that_, I told myself. They were fine. They all were, including his family.

"Okay," I finally said. "For now, how about we just…talk?"

He smiled. "That's never happened before. We've always been in that stupid camp to talk."

**Please favorite, review, alert, etc. Thanks!**


	33. Our Life as Mr and Mrs Cullen

**Oh my god I think this is the last chapter! D: big time jump here. If it ends up being it (depends on what I decide to write now) I'll put some speech thing after it's over. But…I loved writing this, and hopefully I'll come up with another idea you guys like as much as this one. Anyway, I do not own any of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight characters, etc. The last time saying that for this story D':**

*10 years later*

**~Bella**

I had just finished cleaning the kitchen when I went to our room to find an old photo album on our bed. I remembered that small book--it was from so long ago. I don't know how Edward had found it, but clearly he wanted me to see it. I sat down and carefully opened the book to the first page. A picture of me when I was 15--same year as I went to Auschwitz--outside the house. I flipped through more pages and stopped when I found a picture of Jonah and I sitting next to each other on the floor of his room, me with a book in my hand. Jonah. I missed him so much, even as an adult. My little brother would be 15 by now. When I had got home from the concentration camp, I'd called many people asking for him, but no one knew. So, from then on, I relied on the thought that he and my dad were okay and would stay together. I wondered if Jonah even remembered me. He was only five years old the last time I saw him.

Edward had found his parents a few years ago. He'd called some number and asked for them. The person knew their names and let them talk. They now come every once in awhile to visit.

I finished looking through all the pictures. I was glad to have seen them. They brought back memories. I remembered my house, too, since my mom had gotten pictures of them when we first moved in. Who knew why, it was just how she was. Now, Edward and I lived in a small home away from my old town. My mom still lived in that house, even though we were no longer forced to live there like we were during the war. She'd said she'd liked that house, though, so she chose to stay and was happy. I went to visit her every so often.

I heard the front door open and close, and I stood and walked over to Edward, giving him a hug. After he kissed me, I said, "Thanks for finding that photo album. I must have brought it with me and forgotten."

He smiled. "I thought you'd like it."

"I did."

"How's the kid?" he patted my stomach lightly.

I laughed. "Okay. Been moving around a whole lot."

"Good."

He went to our bedroom, and I followed him. As he began getting changed, I picked the book back up and scanned through the pictures again.

"Which one's your favorite?" he asked me.

"Hmm…" I thought. "This one," I pulled out the one of Jonah and I. He looked at it and smiled.

"Just think--now he's your age you were in that picture. You know how teenagers can be--maybe he's like that."

"Probably." I agreed. "He was very loud as a kid."

"Oh, I forgot to ask you--when are you going back to work? I feel bad leaving you alone all day."

I worked as a teacher at an elementary school. Edward worked in a small business in town. Overall, we did not make the most amount of money in the area, but we made a good amount to live here.

"About five months."

He thought for a minute. "Wow, it's coming fast."

"I know."

"Did you check the mail today?"

"I forgot. I'll go now."

I left the room and went to the front door. I took the three pieces of mail out of the mailbox and then went back into the house, sitting at the kitchen counter. First letter, a bill. Second, another bill. The third was unusual, though. It had my name on it, written in handwriting that didn't look so professional, so it couldn't be a bill. It didn't have a return address on it. Only my name and address. I carefully opened the old-looking whitish envelope and unfolded the worn paper inside of it. I began reading.

_Bella, _

_I can't believe we found you! We've been looking like, forever! Why do you live here now? Is Mom with you? I'm with Dad in Poland. Maybe sometime you can come here. I hope you didn't think anything bad happened to us. We're fine. We just miss you and Mom. Anyway, so if you could reply or call or something, please do. I want to talk to you! Our number is on the bottom._

_I'll see you sometime, Bella. I love you._

_Jonah _

I covered my mouth in shock, on the verge of tears. I knew it, they were okay. They were in Poland, living together, fine.

Edward came into the room and noticed me. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's Jonah." I cried in joy. "He's okay! He and my dad!"

He smiled and hugged me. "I'm happy to hear it, Bella."

"He remembered me."

"Why wouldn't he? I'm sure you were a great sister to him."

I smiled, looking at the phone number written on the bottom of the page. "I'm going to call him. Right now."

He nodded. "Okay."

I got the phone and dialed nervously. I didn't know why I was nervous. I carefully dialed each number, and then it began ringing. I looked at Edward. He smiled comfortingly, and I cleared my throat. It dialed four times, and I was afraid no one would be home.

Finally, silence came to the phone. Then, a voice: "I knew you'd call, Bella."

I looked at Edward, smiled, and began talking to my little brother for the first time in years.

***Thunder* The End! Oh my God I can't believe I finished it. Sorry for the iffy ending, but that's how I liked it. So now for a little speech from me:**

**I would never have been able to finish this if it weren't for the support of you guys, every one who has read, favorited, reviewed, etc. It means so much to me that you followed me through the whole story, even after times where I hadn't updated for a long time, and when I had my little crisis with my laptop breaking. As for a sequel, I'm not sure about that. I don't know what else I would do with this story, so I think it's done. So anyway, thank you all so much for reading. When I first started this story I had no idea I'd get so many reviews. But, now with all these reviews, I'm more confident to continue with other stories. Please check out my other story I'm working on, Getting on the Right Path. I have another story, too, but I haven't updated it in awhile because I was writing this story and the other. Maybe with this one done now I can write it more. Well, I'm going to go now, but thanks again to every single person who has read this! **

**~twilight1707~**


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